The Song Inside of Me
by Jeune Ecrivain
Summary: In this sequel to “I’ve Found You,” which begins a few weeks after Mitchie’s departure from Camp Rock, her and Shane’s secret relationship continues to develop as she carves out a joint career with Connect Three. Smitchie, minor Naitlyn, minor Jierra.
1. Songs in Spanish

**The Song Inside of Me**

**By Jeune Ecrivain**

**Rating: T**

**Summary: In this sequel to "I've Found You," which begins a few weeks after Mitchie's departure from Camp Rock, her and Shane's secret relationship continues to develop as she carves out a joint career with Connect Three.**

**Disclaimer: The movie **_**Camp Rock**_** and all related trademarks belong by rightful copyright to the Walt Disney Company. This story is written only for entertainment purposes out of respect for Disney's work. No profit is being made from it, nor is it the author's intention to do so.**

**A/N: Well, this is my attempt at a more thorough exploration of the aftermath of Camp Rock as I envision it (i.e. one with an actual plot instead of just fluff like "I've Found You"). As in my HSM story "Besar," a Spanish-language theme plays a part here (mainly as an excuse to showcase some of my song translations), but the focus will be on the ups and downs of Shane and Mitchie's relationship and how it progresses. I'm trying hard to come up with a decent lovers' spat for them to have later on just for the sake of realism, but rest assured that Shane and Mitchie will not only endure as a couple but grow from the experience. Also included will be original lyrics for a song that Shane and Mitchie write together. Read on, fellow Smitchie fans!**

"Oh, this could work out very well!"

Shane Gray looked up at his bandmate Nate Black. The two were in the small yet cozy bedroom of their band's large tour bus traveling smoothly down a busy American highway the identity of which they neither knew nor cared to know. There was a bunk bed placed carefully against opposite maroon walls, and various photos and posters chronicling Connect Three's rise to fame covered the wall facing the door. Shane was lounging on the lower bunk of one bed while Nate sat with his legs dangling over the upper bunk of the other bed and a computer in his lap. "What are you onto now, Nate?" the lead singer asked, resisting the temptation to roll his eyes.

"I shrugged it off back at camp, 'cause you were acting like a lovesick fool, but you actually had a point about singing in Spanish! I did some looking around on the 'Net in the last hotel we were at, and I've been running some figures here. We've totally underestimated the Hispanic market! Do you realize that just a couple of Spanish songs on our next album could potentially open up a new fanbase?"

"Do you realize that, if you were a cartoon character, you'd have dollar signs in your eyes right now?" Shane retorted, half-amused by the eager look on his longtime friend's face. "Besides, wouldn't we have to hire a translator and get our accents up to par?"

"Yeah, you're right," Nate said as he began to ponder sarcastically. "Gee, if only one of us had a Hispanic girlfriend who'd probably be willing to work for kisses instead of money!"

Shane chuckled wryly. "Yeah, that'd be quite a phone call." He formed an imaginary cell phone with his hand. "'Hey, honey, we need some Spanish lyrics for our new song. If you make us sound really good, I'll throw in some extra tongue later on.'"

Nate fell backwards laughing. "Seriously, though, it can't hurt to ask and look into the possibility. You want to involve her in your career anyway, so this would just be another way to do it. If nothing else, it'll give you an excuse to spend more time with her."

Shane thought for a moment and decided that his longtime friend had presented a very compelling argument. He drew out his real cell phone from the pocket of his black jeans and dialed Mitchie Torres' phone number, feeling a familiar twinge of eagerness as he brought the receiver to his ear. After two rings, a distinct smile that was quickly becoming second-nature to him formed on his lips in response to the voice that so enchanted him. "Hey!" it said cheerily.

"Hey, beautiful!" he greeted. "What's happening?"

Miles away, in a moderately populated town near Sacramento, Mitchie sat cross-legged on her bed in with a guitar strewn across her lap and her cell phone in hand. A keyboard stood on a thick wire stand next to her bed, a laptop sat on the desk underneath a large window, and the mauve walls of her bedroom were decorated with Connect Three and other musical paraphernalia. "Nothing much," she replied. "It's just a lazy Saturday afternoon. I was playing around with some chords."

"If that 'playing around' turns into a new song, I expect you to let me hear it when it's finished."

"I promise," she reassured him with a slight chuckle. "So, how about you? Are you keeping yourself occupied on the road?"

"Well, Jason's birdwatching. I'm just lounging around, occasionally strumming my guitar or humming random songs to myself,…"

"Random? I think not!" Nate interrupted loudly as he moved from his perch atop the bunk to search for his back-up computer battery. "You still sing 'This Is Me' or the Spanish version of it to yourself more than anything besides maybe 'Gotta Find You'!"

"…and, as you can probably hear, Nate's being his usual pain in the butt!" Shane finished, glaring at his bandmate and blushing.

Mitchie laughed. "You sing it in Spanish too?"

"Yeah," her boyfriend admitted with a resigned sigh. "My accent probably stinks, though."

She giggled.

"What?" he asked suspiciously.

"Piece of advice, Shane," she replied. "If you're going to sing it in Spanish, replace _ésta_ with _éste_, 'cause otherwise, you're kind of calling yourself a girl."

Nate, who had momentarily been close enough to hear her words, burst into a fit of laughter. Shane glared at him once more before replying dryly, "Great. I'll keep that in mind."

Mitchie chuckled again.

"Anyway, that's sort of why I'm calling. Nate heard me singing it and got the idea that we could widen our appeal to Hispanic fans if we sang a few of our songs in Spanish. He was wondering if you'd be willing to translate a few of them for us and maybe coach us on pronunciation," he explained, looking at Nate for confirmation, which the latter signaled with a vehement thumbs-up gesture.

"Oh, so now you want to exploit your new Hispanic girlfriend?" she teased, reveling slightly in the applicability of the term 'girlfriend' even after two weeks of officially being his.

Shane smirked. "Well, look at it this way: besides the two duets we hope to record, I have yet another excuse to get you involved in our music and therefore spend more time with you. That was actually the main selling point for me."

"Well, that is pretty tempting, I have to admit," Mitchie grinned. "Why don't you guys talk it over with Jason and maybe pick a couple songs you want to try doing in Spanish, and maybe I'll see what I can do."

"Sweet!" Shane concluded. "Thanks, Mitch. Now I won't have to deal with Nate nagging and scheming for the rest of the tour," he added, soliciting another giggle from her.

Nate rolled his eyes. "That hurt, dude," he said as he clutched his chest in mock pain.

Shane ignored him. "Anyway, I can't wait to see you in Sacramento! I swear, after this tour's up, I'm going to see if I can talk HotTunes into letting us stay close to home for about a year or at least six months. That way, I can come see you pretty much whenever I want for a good while."

She grinned warmly. "That'd be awesome! I like talking to you online and everything, but after a while, there's just no replacement for actually having you here with me."

"I know the feeling," he said with great sincerity. "I miss you."

Nate suddenly grabbed his throat and began feigning a life-or-death struggle. "Can't…breathe! Drowning…in…sap!"

Shane promptly grabbed his pillow and tossed it quite forcefully at Nate, hitting him squarely in the head.

"What was that?" asked Mitchie, having heard the sounds of his actions.

"Nate's just being a jerk," he smirked. "I think it's his turn to meet a girl and fall madly in love so he's inspired to be a better man."

Her cheeks flushed. Even though it was in jest, Shane had, in a way, admitted to being in love with her or at least believing he was headed that way. "Well," she recovered with a half-joke of her own, "I caught Caitlyn eyeing him a couple times. Perhaps a little match-making is in order!"

"Strangely enough, I caught Nate checking her out too a few times. Discretion is not exactly his forté."

"Checking who out?" Nate inquired, suddenly suspicious.

"Caitlyn," Shane mouthed teasingly before replying to Mitchie, "Hooking them up might not be a bad idea, Mitch. Nathan here could use someone to soften him up." He smirked at his now apprehensive bandmate, amused at having turned the proverbial tables on him.

Nate was about to retort when a cry of "We're here!" from Connect Three's manager Dick Steinner rang out from the front of the bus. The former immediately began gathering up instruments and other necessary items.

"Well, Mitchie, Dick just announced our arrival at our next concert, so I gotta go."

The rock star's girlfriend pouted. "Okay," she replied. "Call me again soon, alright?"

"No worries there," he answered. "And anytime you want to talk, don't you hesitate to call me either. The only time I won't answer is when I'm performing."

"Cool," she replied with a warm smile. "Have a nice concert, and don't get squashed by stampeding fangirls."

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Shane smirked again.

"Jerk!" Mitchie retorted.

He grinned, and his voice softened. "But I'm your jerk, and only yours."

"Let's go, Romeo!" Nate shouted with an impatient roll of his eyes.

"Fine!" grunted the lead singer. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"I'm looking forward to it!"

"Good." Shane smiled and paused for a moment before saying a simple "Bye," fondness coloring his tone.

"Bye," Mitchie echoed with a small smile before finally hanging up. She moved to resume her musical experimentation, but was cut short by a knock at her bedroom door. "Come in," she called. The door swung open in a split second and in rushed a petite, bespectacled girl with long, bushy blonde hair in a pair of jeans and a striped pullover. The squeal that accompanied her entrance was promptly joined by Mitchie's own high-pitched exclamation. "Oh, my God! Sierra!"

The two teenage girls embraced each other. "I missed you so much, Mitchie! You have to tell me everything!" Sierra pulled away but didn't pause her ranting, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Your mom told me that you ended up going to Camp Rock after all! I'm so happy for you! What was it like? Did you sing? Did you get discovered like we both know you deserve to?"

Mitchie's grin blended excitement and amusement. "One question at a time, Sierra!" she giggled at her friend's albeit understandable giddiness. "You might want to sit down, 'cause I have quite a story to tell!"

"Oh, if you want me to calm down, saying something like that is so not the way to do it!" Sierra practically jumped onto Mitchie's bed, grinning broadly and urging her with her eyes to begin her tale. Mitchie giggled once more and promptly began recounting the dramatic events of Camp Rock's summer 2008 session, pacing mildly in front of Sierra as she recalled the emotions associated with each key event and milestone. She strategically omitted the identity of the primary male figure in her story and his band as well as the nature of her current relationship with him, temporarily leading her friend to believe he was just an attractive boy who was a member of an aspiring musical group with whom she had formed a close, friendly bond. As she finished retelling it all, she was once again struck with a sense of wonder at all that had transpired. Sierra, however, was completely awestruck. Her mouth had been gaping open since roughly two-thirds into Mitchie's monologue, and her eyes had apparently grown in size throughout until they looked like dinner plates. Finally, as if to signal that her tale was complete, Mitchie quietly claimed a seat next to Sierra.

"Wow!" Sierra breathed. "That's…surreal! Completely amazing! You really tried to convince everyone that your mom was the president of HotTunes' Chinese division?"

The brunette responded with a sheepish, embarrassed half-smile. "Yep. I had a good thing going for a while, too, but then Tess found out, and it all came crashing down on me." She paused bemusedly. "I don't regret it though. I learned a lot from that one, huge mistake."

Sierra shook her head in awe. "This is unbelievable! It's like something out of _Mean Girls_, Mitch!"

Mitchie laughed out loud at her friend's comparison and nodded, realizing that, in many ways, she was right. "You could say that, yeah."

"Too bad you didn't win Final Jam, though. It was so cool how you found that loophole and how Brown secretly gave you that loophole on purpose! Kudos to him for seeing that you would never really steal anything!"

"Yeah, Brown's a cool guy. In fact, he's the uncle of that guy I told you about that I made friends with and who spent the whole summer looking for what turned out to be my voice!"

"Oh, yeah! That was so romantic, especially the duet you guys did at the end! So spontaneous! By the way, what was his name? You never did tell me."

Mitchie smiled impishly. She knew that wouldn't have escaped Sierra's notice for long. "Well, I have a confession to make. I left out the details about him on purpose."

The blonde looked quizzical. "Why?"

"I guess…I didn't want it to overshadow everything else that happened."

Sierra shook her head in confusion. "How could this guy's name overshadow the amazing story you just told me?"

"I'm going to tell you," the brunette began tentatively, "but you have to promise you'll keep it a secret, no matter how tempted you might be to shout it out to the whole neighborhood. For one thing, I don't think anyone would believe either one of us. Even you probably won't believe me at first."

"Oh, my God! You're driving me insane here, Michelle Demetria Torres!" her bespectacled friend said, eyes wide with anticipation. "Seriously, what are you talking about? What was this guy's name? Tell me!" She clutched Mitchie's arm to emphasize her demand.

Mitchie beamed knowingly, and finally revealed slowly, "His name was Shane Joseph Gray."

Sierra blinked and, for a second, just looked at her longtime best friend blankly. Then, from out of her mouth escaped a squeal of epic proportions.

Mitchie covered her ears, half expecting every glass surface in her room to shatter. "Holy crud! Even by female standards, that was high! Are you sure you're not part Chipette or something?"

"Oh, my God! Like, O-M-G times a thousand! I'm going to berate myself later for acting like a crazed fangirl, but seriously! Shane Gray of Connect Three! Oh, my God! The rumors were true!"

It was Mitchie's turn to look puzzled. "What rumors?"

"It's been going around like wildfire that Shane was sent back to Camp Rock during his cooling-down time! I wasn't sure if I believed them until now!" Sierra explained, rising from the bed. "Scratch that! I'm still having a hard time believing that you not only met but actually became friends with Shane Gray! Are you sure you're not just making this up or imagining it?"

"I thought you might say something like that," the brunette said with a smug smile, opening and reaching into the drawer of her nightstand. "So…how did I get these?" She drew out and proudly held up the concert tickets and pass Shane had given her.

The blonde's jaw dropped. "Get out!" Rushing forward, she grabbed the precious slips of cardstock. "And a top-access backstage pass, too?! No effin' way! Your parents might have been able to afford the tickets if they were feeling enormously generous, but a backstage pass is just not possible!"

"It's completely possible if you're friends with Shane Gray!" Mitchie beamed, briefly indulging herself in good-natured smugness. "These didn't cost me or my parents a dime! Not one red cent! And on top of that, Shane offered to send you and one other friend a backstage pass if we send him all the info he needs! If you still don't believe me, you will when you come to the concert in Sacramento with me!"

In a daze, her bespectacled friend handed back the tickets and pass and began fanning herself. "Okay, I have to calm down and get used to this." She let out a huge sigh and reasserted a calm composure before reclaiming her seat next to the brunette. "This is just alot to take in. My best friend leaves over the summer for Camp Rock and comes back telling me that she's become a close enough friend of one of the hottest rock stars in America to get free tickets an backstage passes to his concert! I'm still not sure if I'm ready to believe it all, but at least you're really making me wonder! Why can't I have had your summer?"

Mitchie laughed. "Don't worry. We are so going to that concert in Sacramento! It'll be the experience of a lifetime, and I'll introduce you to Shane, Nate, and Jason! Once you get to know them, there's really nothing to be intimidated about. Behind all the glitz and glamour, Shane's just a nice guy who loves music, just like me. And I'm sure Nate and Jason are probably the same way."

Sierra shook her head in awe once again, which only reinforced her brunette friend's silent decision to not reveal that she and Shane had actually gone beyond friendship until the concert. "This is just…alot to swallow! I'm really happy for you, Mitchie, and I can't wait for the concert!" She bolted up and rushed to the door. "I'm going to go home right now and make sure my parents will let me go!" The blonde let out a squeal before clutching the doorknob. "I'll be back in a while, and then you and I have got to go to the mall or something to celebrate!"

Mitchie watched in amusement as her giddy friend exited her bedroom and closed the door behind her. With a contented smile, she slowly gripped her guitar and strummed the chords of a developing melody.


	2. Surprises

**A/N: Here's the second chapter. I could really use some constructive feedback regarding realism, characterization, and pacing, so please don't be shy if you have some suggestions for improvement or just want to point out something specific that you especially like about this story.**

Two weeks later, Sierra and Mitchie sat at the Torres dining table enjoying a pasta dish of her mother's that was a hallmark within her family. It was the day of the concert in Sacramento, and Mitchie was feeling very contented as she looked forward to seeing Shane in person for the first time in roughly a month. She had found that she could easily tell whenever Connect Three was temporarily stationed in one city due to Shane faithfully logging in to AIM and striking up a conversation with her almost every evening he spent in a hotel. From these quasi-regular instant-messaging sessions, she'd learned quite a bit about the band and her boyfriend in particular.

Jason was originally from suburban New Mexico and, besides being extremely skilled on the drums and bass guitar, hoped to one day study ornithology. Nate, a Los Angeles native, was a semi-classically trained musician since the tender age of six who acted as the group's "junior manager," having become a sort of protégé to Dick Steinner. Shane had already shared with Mitchie the basics of his background during their lakeside conversations facilitated by the extra week at Camp Rock. Before the formation of Connect Three, Shane had been a small-town boy from Washington who learned to play guitar from his father, a regular entertainer at a local nightclub. As the occasional detail about Shane's family and his music arose in the leisurely and often witty discourse she shared with him via AIM, especially regarding the songs he wrote before fame found him, she began to realize why they had bonded and were still bonding so readily. In many ways, Shane was very much like her at heart: a slightly shy yet talented musician who grew up in American suburbia with ambitious dreams. In fact, there had been several odd moments in which she wondered if the only major difference between her and Shane's lives was that she had yet to experience the success to which he had already become accustomed.

Mitchie looked over at Sierra amusedly. Her blonde friend's leg was vibrating up and down semi-consciously, a sure sign of excitement and/or nervousness. She was, after all, about to personally meet one of America's most popular bands of the time. "I can't believe I'm going to meet Connect Three!" she exclaimed as she took another bite of her dwindling pasta delicacy.

The brunette giggled as she chewed the last bite of her own meal. "That's the third time you've said that today! I know it's exciting, but chill out a bit! They're not that intimidating once you get to know them."

"I know. Your right," Sierra admitted. "I just really like their music, and I can't get over the fact that you're actually friends with them!"

Mitchie smiled, glad that her friend seemed to have at least become somewhat acclimated to her being friends with a famous rock star. It would make it easier to finally reveal the extent to which that so-called "friendship" had progressed. The doorbell interrupted her thoughts, and Mitchie's heart swelled with anticipation as she quickly arose and headed towards the front of her house. "That's probably Caitlyn," she said, grinning broadly at the thought of reuniting with the other close friend she had made during her summer at Camp Rock. Sierra took a final bite of the meal Connie Torres had prepared to keep their stomachs full for the concert and followed her.

Sure enough, the brunette was greeted with the familiar face of Caitlyn Gellar when she opened the door. The two girls squealed happily and embraced. "I missed you so much!" Mitchie said. "It was so cool of your mom to let you come all the way out here from the other end of the state!"

Caitlyn scoffed as she pulled away. "My mom's a closet Connect Three fan, so when I told her it was to join you to go to one of their concerts, it didn't take alot of convincing." She noticed Sierra standing behind and to the side of her friend and smiled politely. "Hi!"

"Caitlyn, this is Sierra. Sierra, Caitlyn," Mitchie introduced them.

"Hi!" Sierra greeted with a smile of her own. "Mitchie tells me you're great with music mixes."

"You could say that," Caitlyn confirmed. "I do alot of instrumental remixes and stuff like that. I have a keyboard that can simulate the sound of pretty much every major instrument imaginable, and it interfaces superbly with my top-notch digital recording software!"

"Sounds cool," Sierra nodded.

"Yeah, I'm wired," the wavy-haired newcomer admitted. "So, Mitchie says you went to China this summer. That must have been fun!"

The bespectacled member of the trio nodded. "Yeah. I went there with my AP Mandarin class. It was really hard at first, being surrounded by all those native speakers for the first time, but I ended up learning alot," she explained, emphasizing the last word before elbowing Mitchie playfully. "But then my longtime best friend here just had to trump me by going off to Camp Rock and making friends with a major rock star!"

The other two girls laughed as Mitchie led her companions into the dining room to gather up the now empty dishes on the table. The three then met her mother in the kitchen as she was hanging up the telephone. "Hey, girls!" greeted Connie. "Caitlyn, great to see you again!" she added warmly, hugging her briefly.

"You too, Connie," answered Caitlyn. "Thanks for offering to drive us to the concert."

The cook smiled, and her daughter saw a hint of slyness in her eyes. "It's my pleasure, Caitlyn," she replied before turning to Sierra. "By the way, Sierra, what time do your parents want you home?"

Mitchie looked suspiciously at her mother but shrugged as Caitlyn pulled her aside while her mom and Sierra talked. "So, when are you going to tell her the whole truth about you and Shane?" the wavy-haired brunette asked softly. Mitchie had kept in touch with Caitlyn as well over the past month mostly via telephone and cell-phone text-messaging, and the latter knew that the former had purposely decided to give her longtime friend the truth in doses.

"Before we leave, I think," she responded.

"She's gonna flip when you tell her!" her companion chuckled.

"Tell who what?"

The two brunettes turned to face the blonde and exchanged a look. They nodded in silent agreement. "Sierra," Mitchie began, "there's one last detail I left out when I told you what happened at Camp Rock."

"Pretty big detail," Caitlyn muttered humorously, earning a glare from her friend.

Sierra's eyes widened slightly. "There's more? Don't tell me you got discovered by a major label or something!" she exclaimed.

"No! It's about Shane. You see,…I kind of understated things between him and I."

Sierra stared. "Understated? How the heck do you top being friends with Shane Gray?! I mean, unless you were going to record an album with him or you were dating him or something…"

A poorly concealed giggle sounded from Connie, and the three girls turned to find her shaking her head in ironic amusement. She cleared her throat as she sensed she had an audience and smiled innocently at them. Before Mitchie could continue her third revelation to her bespectacled friend, her cell phone rang. She withdrew it from the pocket of her faded jeans and opened it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mitch, it's me."

"Shane?"

Sierra's jaw dropped, and she and Caitlyn crowded around Mitchie to hear the rock star's words.

"The one and only," the familiar male voice confirmed. "Something funny happened today."

"Oh, really?" Mitchie felt herself smirk good-naturedly.

"Yeah. There was a minor scheduling miscalculation, and we ended up arriving in the area several hours earlier than we anticipated. If we'd kept going, we'd be in Sacramento about three hours before the concert starts. None of us really felt like hanging out in our dressing rooms for that length of time, and we dare not hang out in public for fear of being mobbed. People know we're in the area, so we stand a better chance of being recognized no matter how we disguise ourselves. So,…it turned out to be relatively easy to persuade Nate, Jason, and Dick to take a little detour."

"Shane, where are you?" his girlfriend asked, growing suspicious at his sly tone.

"Why don't you open the door and find out?" he quipped.

Before Mitchie could ask what he was talking about, the doorbell rang for the third time that day. Her jaw dropped. "No bleepin' way!" She made a beeline for the front door, her heart racing in anticipation. Caitlyn and Sierra followed close behind. Upon reaching the door, she flung it open to reveal the half-grinning, half-smirking face of Shane Gray.

"Holy crud!" Mitchie's agape mouth morphed into a broad grin as she flung her arms around his neck, barely hearing the rather loud gasp from Sierra behind her. "Shane! Oh, this is awesome!"

Shane held her tight around the waist. "Yep. This is the first time I actually wanted to thank whoever schedules our concerts for screwing up." He then grinned as he cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips tenderly upon hers. She gladly returned the gesture, parting her lips to deepen the kiss briefly before pulling away. Noticing Nate and Jason standing behind her boyfriend, she stepped aside and gestured for them to enter. The three teenage boys eagerly complied.

Mitchie turned to face her two female friends and took the hand of a bewildered Sierra, who stepped forward somewhat clumsily. Smiling gently in an attempt to break her friend out of her trance, the brunette spoke. "Sierra, I'd like you to meet Shane, Nate, and Jason. Guys, this is my best friend since second grade, Sierra."

"Hi," chorused the band with friendly smiles.

Sierra blinked, stared for a moment, then cleared her throat. "Hi," she finally breathed. "It's really cool to meet you guys!"

"Nice to meet you, too!" Shane said with a smile of gratitude, appreciating the blonde's apparent efforts to not act like another gawking fan. "Are you looking forward to the concert?"

"Yeah," the blonde answered with a little more confidence. "Totally, especially since I get to go with Mitchie. Thank you so much for the ticket and pass!"

"Think of it as a 'thank you' for keeping your best friend's relationship with Shane under wraps," Nate offered sincerely. "I can't tell you how many girls would just take advantage of the situation the first chance they got." Jason and Shane nodded their agreement.

Sierra blinked then nodded as well. "Right. Well, Mitchie's my friend, so if she trusted me with this, it's the least I could do."

"I like her already, Mitchie," Jason half-joked, earning a timid chuckle from the blonde.

"Good to see you again too, Mrs. Torres," Shane added with a nod towards Connie, who had been standing silently behind the three girls. "Thanks for letting me borrow Mitchie tonight!"

"It's 'Connie' to you, Shane, and it's no problem," Mitchie's mother replied with a smile. "Just have her home by midnight."

"The concert's over at six, Mom," Mitchie reassured her mother, slightly confused.

"Right," Shane said with a sly yet warm smile. "But that's when our first proper date begins!"

His girlfriend let out a surprised gasp. "Oh, really?" she said playfully. "What did you have in mind?"

"You'll see, soon enough," Shane smirked, standing beside her and slipping an arm around her waist. "I figured I owed it to you after a month of being AWOL, especially since it'll probably be followed by another month of being AWOL."

Mitchie pouted. "I guess we'd better make the most of it, then," she said impishly.

"You bet."

Nate cleared his throat. "Well, now that that's been established, we should probably get going. The longer we stick around here, the more of a chance there is of some paparazzo or crazy fan spotting us."

Shane rolled his eyes but didn't protest as he let go of Mitchie and followed Nate and Jason out the door. The three girls looked at each other grinning and let out subdued squeals of excitement before following the boys out. "Have fun, honey!" Connie called warmly as they exited. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Got it, Mom!" Mitchie replied with a chuckle. She then turned and was immediately taken aback at the large, blue tour bus that greeted her. It was almost the height of the first floor of her house and slightly longer than a school bus.

"Holy crap!" Caitlyn exclaimed.

"It's huge!" Sierra marveled.

The boys laughed at the girls' expressions as they climbed into the wheeled monolith. "C'mon!" they urged.

The girls blinked out of their stupor and continued approaching the bus. Mitchie was the first to ascend the steps into the vehicle, with Caitlyn and Sierra close behind. All three were once again awestruck. The main room behind the driver's seat had pale green walls and was furnished with a couch, two chairs, a television set, and a small bookcase. Towards the back was the bedroom, and its open door was flanked by what they presumed to be a bathroom on the right and a mini-kitchen on the left. The bedroom floor boasted three large duffle bags, two guitars, a keyboard, and a drum set.

"I repeat. Holy crap!" Caitlyn said, earning a giggle each from Mitchie and Sierra as the three finally stepped fully into the bus.

Suddenly, a balding man with a slight abdominal paunch emerged from the bathroom. His semi-formal attire seemed to belie a substantially amicable disposition as he caught sight of the girls and approached them with a polite smile. "Ah, finally, I get to meet the girl Shane just won't shut up about!"

"Not funny, Dick," Shane remarked with a smirk as he collapsed onto the couch, blushing slightly.

"Nor is it intended to be. I'm just stating the facts," answered Dick Steinner.

"Amen, brother," Nate and Jason concurred, earning a collective glare from their bandmate.

"You must be Mitchie," continued Dick as he shook her hand. "I can't thank you enough for whatever it was you did to him," he joked, although Mitchie sensed a touch of sincerity in his voice. "You've refreshed him, and in doing so, you've refreshed Connect Three's image as well." The band's manager then turned to the other girls. "And you are…"

"Caitlyn Gellar, Mitchie's friend and aspiring producer," said the other brunette, shaking his hand firmly.

"Excellent!" Dick answered before looking expectantly at Sierra.

"Sierra Sauche," the blonde said somewhat timidly as he shook her hand, "Mitchie's friend and…Connect Three fan."

"Perfect," responded Dick. "I hope you girls have fun at the concert!" He winked at them before taking his place at the driver's seat. "Hang on, all! We have a two-hour ride ahead of us." He ignited the engine to life, and the bus began moving.

A brief silence ensued before Caitlyn claimed one of the chairs opposite the couch that all three boys occupied by then. Mitchie was about to claim the chair next to Caitlyn's when a previously stoic Sierra suddenly grabbed her best friend's wrist and spoke up with surprising conviction. "Guys, can I borrow the bedroom for a few minutes?"

"Um…sure," answered Nate.

"Thanks. We won't be long." The bespectacled blonde promptly dragged her companion by the arm into the boys' bedroom and shut the door behind her. She then rounded on the brunette. "This is unreal!" she exclaimed, her face conveying a mixture of happiness and shock. "I'm not only going to a Connect Three concert for free, but I'm riding there with Connect Three themselves on their tour bus, all because my best friend is apparently Shane Gray's new girlfriend! Is there anything else you're not telling me?"

Mitchie giggled. "I did mention that he wants to record a couple of songs with me, right?"

Sierra's eyes widened. "Pretty much right before you told me his name, which puts a whole new spin on that little fact!" She sighed. "Seriously, Mitchie, how did this happen? Don't get me wrong. I'm happy for you and all! I really am! I just can't get over this whole situation, especially the fact that you're actually dating Shane Gray! Dating! As in boyfriend and girlfriend. With kissing and holding hands and…" She trailed off. "You do realize how many girls would kill to be you right now?"

The brunette giggled again. "Yes, I do. It's really exciting and kinda scary at the same time."

The blonde gasped in sudden realization. "Danielle would have nothing over you if the people at school knew!"

Mitchie smiled knowingly, thinking of the stereotypical "mean girl" of her high school, before giving her friend a serious look. "I know. Don't think I haven't thought about how fun it would be to throw this in her face! But Sierra, we can't, at least not for a long while. First of all, it'd be like taking advantage of him, and I like him too much to do that. Secondly, I'm not ready to be mobbed by paparazzi or jealous fangirls. You should hear some of the horror stories Shane's told me about the press!"

"I know, and I understand. At least, I think I do," Sierra digressed, doing her best to sound sympathetic. "I just can't quite wrap my head around this epic stroke of luck you seem to have had!"

Her longtime best friend scoffed. "Trust me. I still have my moments where I think this is all a dream."

"Good. So you can somewhat see where I'm coming from here."

"Absolutely."

"I just hope you don't get too involved with Shane and the band and end up letting the fame go to your head or something and maybe forgetting about me!" Sierra pouted half-jokingly.

"Sierra, as long as I have you and Shane, I promise that won't happen. Shane did have a bit of an attitude at first, but he sure didn't stay that way. And if it was really me who snapped him out of it, then I have a feeling he'd do me the same favor if I ever did get all cocky and self-centered."

Sierra sighed and smiled warmly at her longtime comrade. "You really like this guy, don't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Mitchie nodded and smiled fondly. "I do. This thing between us is new, and nothing's guaranteed, but I just feel like it really deserves a chance. You know?"

The blonde smiled back and nodded, then she laughed and shook her head. "Boy, who would've thought! This is your first real boyfriend, but apparently, when you decide to get a boyfriend, Mitchie Torres, you go all out!"

The brunette laughed out loud.


	3. Me Miras a los Ojos

**A/N: Here's the next chapter, so I hope you like it! Again, constructive feedback on the characterization, realism, and pacing will be greatly appreciated. If you have on which to suggest improvement, please try to think of something specific you like about the story. That way, I know what I'm doing right and can therefore keep doing it. Also, any native Hispanic fans out there, please let me know if anything about the lyrics presented here sounds awkward or weird so I can try to correct it ASAP. Anyway, on with the story!**

The roar that filled the large venue was almost deafening. Thousands of predominantly female teenagers and young twenty-somethings screamed and whooped in ecstasy, crying out declarations of love and even a few desperate marriage proposals. The people nearest the stage reached out to the three male figures lit by multi-colored strobe lights as if exalting a trio of deities. The sea of eager faces was broken only by scattered proclamations of love and/or support scrawled colorfully on sheets of white cardboard.

The object of the crowd's frenzy was Connect Three, all three members of which breathed heavily, having just finished a vigorous rendition of their soft rock hit, "When You Look Me in the Eyes." Shane Gray wiped the sweat off his forehead and indulged in a glance downward at a certain brunette whose location in front of the stage he had memorized during the early parts of the concert. Grinning from ear to ear, Mitchie Torres caught her secret boyfriend's eye and briefly transformed her broad grin into a simpler but very warm smile. He grinned back and winked at her before exhaling deeply and turning to face the fans at large once more. "Thank you, Sacramento!" he cried into the hands-free microphone he was wearing as a headset.

The crowd responded with renewed screams and amorous cries. Mitchie was inwardly grateful that Sierra Sauche, who stood to her right, was a relatively silent spectator, although the open-mouthed grin and look of wonder on her face testified to her thorough enjoyment and exhilaration. The brunette looked to her left at Caitlyn Gellar, who indulged in the occasional high-pitched whoop but otherwise watched with a half-smirking smile and sparkling eyes. Although all three girls had spent much of the night merrily dancing in place, they were generally among the more mellow fans present. This was reflected as another random bra flew into the air and landed at Nate Black's feet.

"Yeah, that's right," remarked Caitlyn in good-natured sarcasm, yelling over the roar of the masses. "We don't quite pass as crazed groupies yet, so let's throw our underwear at 'em!"

Mitchie giggled. "Do I detect a hint of jealousy there?" she teased, referring to the specific location of the frilly undergarment's landing.

Her friend's smirk belied a blush that she managed to see despite the darkness surrounding them. "Shut up."

After several minutes, the screaming sea of people began to grow silent, sensing another impending song. Their suspicions turned out to be correct as Shane spoke again, his inner impatience alleviated by the gradual but obvious quieting of the masses. "And now, I'd like to take some time to introduce a brand new song that I wrote just about a month ago As most of you know, I was going through some rough patches attitude-wise, and I needed some time off to do some soul-searching. This is for a special someone I met over the summer that reminded me how to write and sing from the heart."

Mitchie stared up at him. "Is he doing what I think he's doing?!"

As the lead singer was speaking, Jason White had retrieved an acoustic guitar from backstage and was by then approaching his bandmate with it. Shane took it in exchange for his electric guitar with a thankful nod and continued. Nate left his usual keyboard for a nearby drum set, which was to be his friend's only accompaniment for this song. "To quote my recently retired colleague Jordan Cahill, 'It's not what's out there. It's what's in here.'" Shane tapped his chest with his index finger, sighed subtly, and tuned the guitar before strumming the first chord.

"Apparently, he is!" Mitchie marveled as a familiar melody drifted from the stage and filled the stadium. She turned to Sierra. "This is the song he wrote that turned out to be about me!"

Her blonde companion's eyes widened, which seemed to happen often lately. "Really?"

Caitlyn smiled and shook her head in awe. "Girls, I know it's ridiculously cheesy, but this is one of those times when we just have to say it."

The three girls exchanged looks of agreement before facing the stage dreamily. "Aaaawww!" they chorused. They then paused before bursting into soft giggles at their behavior. The humor belied true contentment on Mitchie's part, however, and the warmth within her mounted as Shane began to sing.

_Everytime, I think I'm closer to the heart  
__Of what it means to know just who I am.  
__I think I've finally found a better place to start,  
__But no one ever seems to understand.  
__I need to try to get to where you are.  
__Could it be, you're not that far?_

_You're the voice I hear inside my head,  
__The reason that I'm singing.  
__I need to find you.  
__I gotta find you._

_You're the missing piece I need,  
__The song inside of me.  
__I need to find you.  
__I gotta find you._

"This song is so sweet! I can't believe Shane Gray wrote that for you!" Sierra cooed.

"Well, in all fairness, he didn't exactly know it was me when he wrote it," Mitchie reminded her, blushing nevertheless.

"Still,…you're an inspiration to him, and you can't get much more romantic than that," Caitlyn observed, earning a chuckle and reluctant nod from her enamored friend.

_You're the remedy I'm searching hard to find  
__To fix the puzzle that I see inside.  
__Painting all my dreams the color of your smile,  
__When I find you, it will be all right.  
__I need to try to get to where you are.  
__Could it be, you're not that far?_

_You're the voice I hear inside my head,  
__The reason that I'm singing.  
__I need to find you.  
__I gotta find you._

_You're the missing piece I need,  
__The song inside of me.  
__I need to find you.  
__I gotta find you._

Mitchie tore her eyes away from her boyfriend for a moment, scanning the audience to find almost everyone swaying rhythmically to the music. Smiling, she turned back and soon caught Shane's eye again. He winked at her and continued, and Mitchie found herself reminiscing about the first time he had ever sung this song to her.

_Been feelin' lost, can't find the words to say,  
__Spending all my time stuck in yesterday.  
__Where you are is where I wanna be.  
__Oh, next to you, you next to me.  
__  
Oh, I need to find you.  
__Yeah!_

_You're the voice I hear inside my head,  
__The reason that I'm singing.  
__I need to find you.  
__I gotta find you._

_You're the missing piece I need,  
__The song inside of me.  
__I need to find you.  
__I gotta find you._

_You're the voice I hear inside my head,  
__The reason that I'm singing.  
__I need to find you.  
__I gotta find you._

_You're the missing piece I need,  
__The song inside of me.  
__I need to find you.  
__I gotta find you.  
__  
Oh!_

_I gotta find you!_

The song faded out, and Shane smiled in satisfaction as the fans erupted clapping and screaming their approval. Mitchie indulged herself in a gleeful whoop as she and her two friends clapped whole-heartedly, shaking her head in awe of the simple yet meaningful gesture Shane had just performed.

"Thank you everyone! We love you all!" Jason cried out.

"That was Shane with his new single, 'Gotta Find You,' which we hope to include as a duet on an upcoming album." Nate announced. "Take care, guys, and thanks for all your support! You've all made us what we are today."

"We're outta here!" added Shane. "Until next time, keep on connectin' to Connect Three!"

An explosion of celebratory voices louder than any thunderstorm filled the large edifice, and the quasi-worshippers in the front tried with outstretched hands and newly desperate vigor to touch anything on the persons of their idols before the opportunity was lost as they quickly disappeared from view backstage. Realizing the concert was over, Mitchie's heart swelled with eagerness to go backstage. "Let's go!" she shouted to her two friends as the three promptly began fighting their way through the gathering crowd towards the large black double doors to the right of the stage that marked the entrance to the backstage quarters. After a long fifteen minutes of navigating the congested concert hall and nearly having their eardrums shattered by the random outbursts of a few fans wanting to unleash some remaining exhilaration, the black doors and the heavyset African-American man guarding them finally came into view. Mitchie silently thanked the heavens that this was not a concert with any special backstage tour offers as she, Caitlyn, and Sierra took their place among the few other pass-holders, most of whom appeared to be journalists and photographers.

The guard scanned each pass presented to him quickly yet discerningly and gestured the holders towards an area marked "Press" by a sign. His tone was that of a man trying to retain a welcoming humanity at what often became a robotically tedious task, and Mitchie momentarily felt sympathetic. When she and her two companions finally reached the imposing sentry, they presented their passes almost in perfect sync. Raised eyebrows seemed to imply gratitude at the slight change in routine as he noticed the rank of access to which their placards entitled them. He ushered them into the white-walled hallway and temporarily closed the black doors. All three girls noticed several envious stares aimed their way due to the special treatment and inwardly indulged themselves in the resultant smugness for a few precious moments. "Come with me," said the guard. He led them down a wide, spacious hallway with off-white walls and then turned right into a somewhat narrower corridor. At the end of this corridor, the four turned left and walked a short distance to a closed white door. The guard swiped the card hanging around his neck through the digital locking device and opened it to reveal a large, polished dressing room. Standing aside to let the girls enter, he smiled politely. "The boys will be in shortly. They have a brief press conference right now."

Mitchie fought the urge to groan as the door closed behind her and her two comrades. She then faced them and grinned broadly. "I am so psyched that he actually sang that song for the concert!"

"I'm not," said Caitlyn wryly with a gentle smirk. "I've said it before, I'll say it again. That boy's got it bad." She then took a look around at the leather couch, leather chairs, mini-fridge, large vanity, and equally large mirror that furnished the dressing room. "Wow! These guys really live it up!"

"Yeah, shocking, 'cause rock stars are known for living and traveling in squalor," Mitchie quipped, soliciting a giggle from Sierra.

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Nice one! Perhaps the ol' Gellar sarcasm is rubbing off on you a bit." Her brunette friend chuckled.

The bespectacled blonde of the trio leaned over the vanity and looked at herself in the mirror, which was surrounded by large, bare light bulbs. "I wonder why male rock stars can get away with even having vanities without emasculating themselves."

Caitlyn laughed. "Simple. They're more preoccupied with their appearance than most men,…which in itself raises the question of how they can be like that without anyone questioning their sexual orientations."

Mitchie laughed. "Well, at least I know I have nothing to worry about there. A gay guy could never kiss like Shane!"  
Her wavy-haired companion rolled her eyes, but the retort that may have been on the tip of her tongue was curbed by the sound of three approaching male voices. All three girls tensed in anticipation as the voices soon became clear enough to understand.

"I swear," said the one that sounded like Jason White's, "if I have to listen to one more lame joke about me being Superman's kid, I am literally going to kill Bryan Singer!"

"Well, hey, at least we stopped getting the color jokes," replied Nate Black's voice, which abruptly increased in pitch a few octaves in imitation of a fangirl, "'Hey, you're Black, Gray, and White! If I changed my name to Silver, could I join the band?'"

"Yeah," conceded the voice of Shane Gray, "those were getting really old really fast!"

This conversation, which had the girls giggling by then, came to a halt as Shane unlocked the door and opened it. His face brightened when he found his girlfriend standing before him.

Mitchie, probably emboldened by the sheer sweetness of his choice of song for the concert's finale, wasted no time in striding up to him, cupping his face in her hands, and kissing him on the lips with unprecedented passion. Shane happily returned the kiss. As she let out a soft moan, Nate finally grunted as he walked past them and collapsed into one of the leather chairs. "Seriously, Shane, if you're going to do that every time you meet up with her, can we at least put some sort of tracking chip on her or something so Jase and I have some warning?"

Caitlyn, who had engaged in some playful banter with Nate on the ride to the concert, smacked the back of his curly-haired head.

"Ow! Geez, woman!"

"No one's putting any homing devices on my friend."

"You're right. Maybe it'd be money better spent if we put one on you."

Mitchie, who had kept her and Shane's albeit fervent kiss brief since they had an audience, cleared her throat. "Guys, we're done…for now." She smiled slyly upon saying the last two words. Shane smirked as he took her hand and led her to the couch, where they both took a seat. Running her hands through her boyfriend's hair, she looked at him. "It was really sweet of you to play that song at the end!"

Jason, who noticed Sierra and Caitlyn standing somewhat awkwardly amidst the others, spoke up. "Please make yourselves at home." He gestured towards the couch and chairs.

"Thanks," said Caitlyn before looking impishly at the boy beside her as she claimed the chair facing his. "At least one of you has manners." Nate rolled his eyes.

Sierra gave Jason a small, appreciative smile before sitting on the side of Mitchie opposite the one occupied by Shane. "Thanks," she echoed.

Connect Three's junior manager suddenly turned his attention to his bandmate's girlfriend. "So, Mitchie, about this whole translation thing we talked about, have you had any luck with the two songs we decided to try?"

Shane rolled his eyes, not entirely sure if this was the right time to talk about business but simultaneously curious himself.

"Funny you should say that," Mitchie replied as she suddenly remembered something. "Can I borrow that?" she asked, pointing to an acoustic guitar in the far corner of the room. "I came up with something you boys might like."

"Sure," Jason answered. "We'd love to hear it!"

Shane couldn't help but grin. Although he loved her voice in any language, he secretly thought that she had a little extra charm when singing in Spanish. He inwardly speculated that it was because it made her sound exotic and therefore slightly sexier than usual. Mitchie rose and retrieved the instrument. She then reclaimed her seat on the couch, shifting and then leaning forward to assure the guitar wouldn't accidentally hit Sierra or Shane, and began strumming a tune that was very familiar to the band. Her sweet voice soon joined the guitar chords.

_Ya en ti hay corazón que  
__Quiere tanto un hogar.  
__Lo estaba yo buscando,  
__Y sola, no voy a triunfar.  
__Mil razones hay de la verdad.  
__Soñar contigo no iguala lo real._

_C__uando tú con claridad  
__Me miras a los ojos,  
__No hay nada mal  
__Si conmigo tú estás.  
__En tus ojos veo ya  
__Mi propio paraíso;  
__En ti, realidad  
__Con un toque celestial._

Shane's admiring eyes were glued on Mitchie, and everyone else in the room was also listening pleasantly and attentively. Despite not understanding a word, they surmised at least the gist based on the melody, which identified the original song. Nate was nodding gently in contemplation, a small half-smile indicating his approval.

_¿Mas para verte, cuánto  
__Tendré yo que esperar?  
__Voy a decirte que te amo  
__Lo mejor que pueda yo.  
__No perduro sin que estés acá.  
__Me liberas pues de mi oscuridad._

_Cuando tú con claridad  
__Me miras a los ojos,  
__No hay nada mal  
__Si conmigo tú estás.  
__En tus ojos veo ya  
__Mi propio paraíso;  
__En ti, realidad  
__Con un toque celestial._

At this point, Nate was outright smiling and Shane was grinning broadly. Caitlyn and Sierra giggled as the latter kissed his female companion on the cheek, silently encouraging her to continue. She smiled at him briefly before letting her voice build in volume for the bridge and finale.

_Cada vez me doy más cuenta que,  
__Al mirar adelante,  
__Mi futuro lograré.  
__Y sí eres tú la causa, sé._

_Cuando tú con claridad  
__Me miras a los ojos,  
__No hay nada mal  
__Si conmigo tú estás.  
__Y sé que esto durará  
__Contigo en mis brazos.  
__Yo te debo avisar  
__Que nunca te voy a dejar._

_Cuando tú con claridad  
__Me miras a los ojos,  
__No hay nada mal  
__Si conmigo tú estás.  
__En tus ojos veo ya  
__Mi propio paraíso;  
__En ti, realidad  
__Con un toque celestial._

Mitchie's impromptu rendition of "When You Look Me in the Eyes" in Spanish was greeted by collective applause from all present. Jason shook his head in awe. Nate shook his head in grateful approval.

"That sounded awesome!" Shane said as he kissed her on the mouth. "You'll have to teach it to us!"

"Nice!" Caitlyn agreed.

"I totally recognized it even though I had no clue what you were saying!" added Sierra.

"Thanks," Mitchie said sincerely to everyone as Nate whooped in the background. "I was hoping you'd like it."

"It fits the music and rhymes perfectly!" her boyfriend complimented again.

"Thanks," the brunette responded warmly to him before her expression turned playfully curious. "By the way, where are we going for our first date?"

He gave her a gentle yet sly smile. "You'll see."


	4. First Date

**A/N: Finally, Smitchie's first proper date has arrived! This is mostly just fluff, and it gets especially hot towards the end (I love writing make-out scenes)! Despite the secrecy, Shane's plans were actually relatively simple. I thought something too fancy would detract from the intimacy (mostly of the non-physical sort), so I went a different route that oddly seemed to suit this couple. I hope it lives up to your expectations! By the way, I actually eat spaghetti the way Shane does all the time. It's really good!**

"Okay, seriously, where are we going?" Mitchie asked once more, amused despite herself as Shane led her by the hand up the third consecutive flight of steps of an enclosed staircase within the concert hall. "And if you say 'You'll see' one more time, there will be dire consequences, Shane Joseph Gray!"

Shane laughed smugly. "Careful, Mitch. You're starting to sound eerily like my mother."

Her jaw dropped. "Oh, no, you didn't!" she said in mock offense as she hurried to keep up with his eager ascent. "You did not just tell your girlfriend she reminds you of your mother! Do you not know anything about women?! It seems jerky Shane has returned!"

Shane rolled his eyes in amusement as he finally approached the large gray door he was seeking. He stopped and felt her nearly run into him before turning to face her. "Trust me, Mitch. There's nothing maternal about what you are to me, and I'd like to keep it that way. Besides, would a jerk set something like this up?" He shoved the door open, and Mitchie's jaw dropped in genuine surprise this time as the scene before her was revealed.

They were on the concrete roof of the concert all, surrounded by solid railing on all sides and a twilit sky above. A couple yards ahead and to the right of the stair shaft where she stood was a round wooden table draped with a deep green table cloth flanked by two chairs with deep red upholstery on the seats. A pepperoni pizza on a metal pan sat in the center of the table with an ornately decorated plate in front of each chair. There was also a two-liter bottle of Coke and a pair of plastic cups next to the pizza. As she followed Shane towards it, a slightly bewildered glance around also revealed a large, white projection canvas erected against the stair shaft's right wall. A few feet away from the table and a few yards away from the canvas was a metal cart bearing what looked like a digital projector and a portable DVD player. Finally, strewn out between the projector and canvas was a large, deep red blanket and three throw-pillows of matching color.

"I wanted to do something nice but also casual, so I went with dinner-and-a-movie," Shane explained as they approached the table. "It also needed to be private, and unless some paparazzo or crazy fan has Spider-Man powers, I think we're safe."

Mitchie giggled as he pulled out one of the chairs for her. "Pizza, huh?" she quipped while sitting down with a smile.

He chuckled nervously. "I know. Not the most romantic of menus, but like I said, I didn't want to overdo the fanciness. I hope you like it."

She smiled sincerely. "I love it. I think something fancier would've felt a little fake, like you were trying too hard to make an impression. It's probably better to save the more formal stuff for special occasions."

Shane smiled back and nodded in agreement as he poured some cola into each of the cups he had and offered one to her. "I thought so, too. And trust me, this is the best pizza in town! Last time I was in the area, I stopped by this little mom-and-pop pizzeria and got hooked right away!"

Mitchie accepted her drink and transferred a slice of pizza onto her plate, the stringiness of the melted cheese whetting her appetite. "So what movie are we watching?"

He took a slice for himself as he responded. "Well, I tried to pick one that I thought we both would enjoy, and I came up with _That Thing You Do_. Have you seen it?"

His girlfriend pondered. "I don't think so."

"I think you'll like it," said Shane. "It's basically about a '60s garage band that makes it to the big time, mostly thanks to the drummer. I saw it for the first time with my dad, and I asked him to teach me to play the guitar right after it. It was so cool, and I think it was my first inspiration to get into music and singing."

"I can't wait to watch it, then!" Mitchie grinned, sipping her Coke. "It would've really sucked if you'd never gotten that inspiration. There'd be no Connect Three, and we probably never would've met."

"True," he replied with a grin of his own. "Life would've definitely been different, and I'm not sure that I'd like it."

Chuckling slightly and taking the first bite of her pizza, his girlfriend groaned in pleasure. "You're so right about this pizza! This is awesome! The flavor is amazing!"

"I know! Isn't it?!" Shane responded as he briefly chugged his soda, excited that she apparently shared his fondness for the Italo-American delicacy. "I swear, I am so investing in a generous donation to the Sole Blu so they can expand into an actual restaurant chain!"

"Good idea!" she said with a nod, taking another bite. "America does not know what it's missing!"

The rock star chuckled. "Totally!"

"And the weird thing is…pizza is the only thing I particularly care for that involves tomato sauce," Mitchie revealed, taking another bite and savoring the taste again.

Mirroring her actions with his own slice, Shane looked at her quizzically. "Really?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I like spaghetti if the sauce isn't too chunky, but that's about it."

"Well, obviously you haven't tried spaghetti à la Shane!" her boyfriend declared smugly. "Picture this: no tomato sauce whatsoever; just melted butter, parmesan cheese, and bacon bits."

Mitchie visualized the dish he had just described. "You know,…that actually sounds pretty darn good!" She chuckled. "I'll have to run that idea by my mom sometime. How'd you come up with that?"

"My brother's an aspiring chef. Has been since he was five," answered Shane. "That was one of his earlier creations that was actually not only safe to eat but quite tasty too."

His girlfriend laughed out loud and plucked a piece of pepperoni off the bitten-off edge of her pizza. "He didn't poison his own family, did he?" she asked with a smirk as she put the spicy slice into her mouth.

"No, but not for lack of trying," he answered as he seized a large mouthful of his own pizza between his teeth. "Mom learned very quickly to hide the blender."

Mitchie giggled again. "Maybe I could teach him a thing or two. Growing up with a caterer for a mom, you learn a few things."

"I bet," Shane replied, pausing to chew. "Anyway, you never did tell me what inspired you to get into music. I know you learned from your aunt, but what brought it on?"

She blushed slightly. "Well, my mom always used to catch me humming random tunes. If I got a song stuck in my head, I'd hum it at odd times for days on end until I heard something else that I liked. As I got older, I started throwing in a few melodies of my own. At first, Mom thought it was cute, but if I did it for too long at a time, it would start getting on her nerves. My Aunt Carla was a music teacher at the high school in our area, and she convinced my mom that all I needed was a better outlet. So, one Christmas, I woke up to find a guitar waiting for me under the tree. Carla promised to teach me how to play, and I absolutely loved it!" Mitchie grinned at the memories. "I would get so proud of myself whenever I learned to play a new song! I got my first guitar when I was seven, and when I was nine, my aunt and I moved on to the piano. Eventually, between the piano and the guitar, I learned enough about notes and tones and stuff to start writing down some of the original stuff I had floating around in my head. It was a while before I could compose an entire song, though. I had alot of fun writing my first whole song! I was eleven, and it was actually a poem I'd written for English class that I decided one day to put to music."

Shane, who'd continued eating as he listened attentively with an amusedly warm smile on his face, spoke up at this moment. "I'd love to hear it."

His girlfriend blushed crimson. "Nah, it's nothing. It's not like 'This Is Me' or 'Who Will I Be.'"

"Well, maybe it wasn't your best work, but I doubt it's nothing."

"And how would you know?" she challenged.

"Because you wrote it."

Mitchie chuckled and blushed again simultaneously. "Flattery will get you nowhere, rock star," she retorted playfully.

"I'm just stating the facts," Shane answered with impish smugness.

"I tell you what. I'll play my first song for you if you'll play your first song for me."

"Uh-huh, right. That's so not happening."

"And why not?"

"Because it's…kinda cheesy."

"I'm sure it's great, Shane. And so what if it is a bit corny? It's your first composition. That makes it special!"

"Well, your first composition is special too!"

A tiny smile of pleasure colored Mitchie's response. "Fine. So, I repeat. I'll sing you mine if you sing me yours."

"Deal," Shane relented.

She smiled warmly at him. "Cool!"

The couple soon finished their current slices of pizza and decided to enjoy seconds while watching the movie. Mitchie grabbed a new slice and sat cross-legged on the red blanket while Shane turned on the projector and started playing the DVD. Gazing down at her for a moment, he smiled to himself before grabbing his own second slice of pizza and claiming a seat beside her. It was not long before Shane was lightly mocking the inappropriate tempo of the title song's original version as played by the characters in their garage, and his girlfriend reluctantly agreed that it didn't quite fit. Soon after, Mitchie hailed the drummer's impromptu tempo boost as "sheer genius" and began wholeheartedly swaying her entire upper body to the newly upbeat tune, a sight which Shane found rather enticing. As the characters' rise to fame continued along with the drama that accompanied it, she found herself beaming with pride as the main female character gave what she dubbed "one of the best break-up speeches ever." Finally, a gleeful cry of "I knew it!" made Shane laugh in amusement as the drummer that started it all kissed his bandmate's ex-girlfriend, claiming her as his own. As the credits began to roll, she turned to Shane with a smile on her face. "That was a cool movie! I can see why you like it. I totally sow the whole Guy/Faye thing coming! I mean, he just seemed so much more attentive than Jimmy."

"True," he agreed casually before rising.

Mitchie stood up and took his hands in hers. "Shane, I want to thank you for pulling this together. I had a great time tonight," she said. "It stinks that we can't do this more often."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Shane replied. "That's why I got you this." He rummaged through the metal cart briefly, withdrew a package of moderate size, and handed it to her with a gentle smile.

"A webcam?" she observed quizzically.

"Yep. I have one just like it. This way, our talks on AIM can be one step closer to actually being together."

"Shane, I can't accept this. It looks really expensive."

"Yeah, it took quite a chunk out of my rock star's paycheck," he quipped sarcastically before turning momentarily serious. "Really, Mitch. I want you to have it. It's as much for me as it is for you."

She raised her eyebrows in mock suspicion. "My computer's in my bedroom. This thing won't secretly stay on while I'm undressing or something, will it?"

"Darn! You're on to me!" he joked back, feigning frustration.

Mitchie gasped in surprise and slapped his arm playfully before turning sincere. "Thank you, Shane. This'll definitely make it a little easier to deal with you being gone for another month."

"That's the idea," Shane grinned.

"Maybe we can play songs to each other with this!" she realized. "Now I don't have to wait so long to hear Shane Gray's very first song!"

He rolled his eyes. "Only if you go first!"

Mitchie gasped. "Nuh-uh! You're the famous rock star! Or should I say 'spoiled pop star'?" she said impishly.

Shane glared at her in mock offense. "'Spoiled pop star?' Oh, you shall pay, Michelle Demetria Torres!" He poked her sides, soliciting a high-pitched yelp from her. Satisfied with the results of this test, he looked at her with a mischievous gleam in his eye. Mitchie caught his meaning and moved to escape, but he was too quick. He grabbed her and started tickling her mercilessly. "The 'spoiled' part was bad enough, but I'm afraid 'pop' is crossing the line!"

She giggled helplessly as she tried in vain to wriggle free from his grip. "Ah!...Shane!...Stop it!...I mean it!...This is…not funny!"

"Then why are you laughing?" Shane teased as he continued tickling her, loving the sound of her giggles. "Huh? Huh? Huh?"

An odd move of attempted escape from Mitchie suddenly caused her to lose her footing. Shane moved to catch her but lost his own balance in the process. He landed clumsily on the blanket with Mitchie on top of him. They both laughed heartily as they faced each other, but their expressions turned thoughtful as a loaded silence soon ensued.

"A soulful moment brought on by ending up in a compromising position after a play-fight," he pondered. "It's cheesy, but it works." The rock star pulled her closer and captured her lips with his.

She giggled briefly into the kiss before parting her lips to deepen it. Gripping her tightly about the waist, Shane soon rolled them both onto their sides. Mitchie wrapped her arms around his neck and met his lips with hers again. Their mouths continued to interlock passionately and repeatedly. Shane sucked on her lower lip for a moment before trailing a few kisses down her jawline, in response to which Mitchie leaned her head back instinctively. She shivered in pleasure as he kissed his way down her neck to her collarbone before gripping his face along the jawline and reclaiming his swollen lips with her own. Shane's hands moved up and down her sides, his thumbs gently massaging her stomach. Mitchie moaned softly and kissed him with increased ardor, prompting a similar sound to escape from his lips as he trembled in pleasure.

"Mitchie..." her boyfriend managed to breathe between kisses, pulling away slightly to look into her eyes, "…what time is it?"

She ventured a look at her watch and groaned. "We gotta go," she whispered regrettably.

Shane grunted and rose slowly. He then took her hand and brought her to her feet. Smiling gently at her, he planted a single, lingering kiss on her lips before turning to lead her by the hand back to the stair shaft. Mitchie followed with a somewhat sad yet satisfied smile of her own accenting her visage.


	5. Can't Kiss Through a Webcam

**A/N: Sorry for the extended hiatus, guys. I had a severe case of writer's block. I wanted to have a chapter that showed what typically happened during the second and final month of the tour. Then and only then would I let myself move on to Shane's much anticipated return to Mitchie's doorstep. I also realized that this story was lacking the Nate/Jason comic relief that helped make its prequel something of a hit, so I tried to rectify that as well in this chapter. I realized a while ago that Nate and Jason remind me of Joey and Chandler with a dash of Timon and Pumbaa, so that idea kind of influenced their portrayal here. In any event, I hope that you enjoy it and that the ending doesn't seem to abrupt.**

The setting sun shone through the large French window of the luxury hotel suite, casting a soft light on the burgundy carpet below and the beige walls nearby. The window faced a cozy living room with a leather sofa, two chairs of similar upholstery, and a large flat-screen TV. In what would've been the living room's southwest corner, there was a mini-kitchen adorned with a marble countertop. Behind this kitchen was a small entry hall, and across from it were two bedrooms and one bathroom, complete with private television sets and a Jacuzzi. Opposite these rooms was a door into the adjoining suite, which housed two more bedrooms and an accompanying bathroom. All beds in this ensemble were laden with dark green quilts and joined by rich oaken nightstands and dressers.

The serenity of this scene was abruptly broken by the entrance of Jason White, followed closely by Nate Black and Shane Gray. "That was awesome!" spoke the first intruder, referring to the visit to the local Busch Gardens aviary into which he had cajoled his two bandmates.

Nate narrowed his eyes at Jason's enthusiasm and Shane's silent amusement. "Yes," he replied in a dry tone that indicated impending sarcasm, "I think a half-dozen bird-poop stains on my thousand-dollar suede jacket could be the beginning of a new and edgy fashion statement." He held up said garment and glared at his bird-loving bandmate. "Next time, I'll be sure to bring my twin brother so all those birds don't have to go co-ed again."

Jason turned to face his disgruntled friend in shock. "You have a twin?!"

Nate slapped his own forehead and shook his head hopelessly while Shane just snickered. "No, dude. It's called sarcasm. Perhaps you've heard of it?"

"I know," the spacey bassist replied. "It's just that sometimes it's hard to tell."

At this, both Shane and his ever-sarcastic companion rolled their eyes discretely. Jason was the only one with that problem. "Seriously, though," the band's lead singer digressed with a smirk, "you might as well have been wearing a neon sign that said 'Birds, Take Your Dumps On Me.'"

Nate groaned. "I know! I don't know what it was! It was like I was giving off some weird pheromones or something!"

"Actually, pheromones are used purely for sexual attraction," corrected Jason, suddenly sounding uncharacteristically erudite. "If they were drawn to you 'cause of them, you'd have a whole different kind of problem, man."

Shane laughed. "That'd be an awkward conversation." He cleared his throat in mock seriousness. "'Don't get me wrong. You're very attractive…in your own way. You're just not my type. I'm not a feathers man, and I never will be. Plus, to be perfectly honest…the beak kind of makes kissing you a little painful. Anyway,…I hope we can still be friends.'"

Nate rolled his eyes again. "You have a twisted mind, Gray."

"That reminds me, though," the aspiring ornithologist intervened after chuckling at Shane's skit, "you totally owe me for scaring away all those birds before I could get a few feathers for my collection."

"Yeah, remind me again how the feather collection is not too effeminate for comfort," the curly-haired drummer remarked wryly. "We're in a Top-40 band. If news of that thing ever gets out, it could easily become quite embarrassing."

"After that scream you gave off when you thought that bald eagle was coming right at you, I wouldn't be talking about what's effeminate and what's not," Jason retorted pointedly.

"Caitlyn loved the video of it that I sent her from my cell phone!" Shane agreed.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"Psyche!" the lead singer teased. "You should've seen the look on your face!"

"That was just plain mean!" Nate complained, somewhat relieved nonetheless.

Shane ignored him. "Seriously, admit it. You've finally found a girl whose sarcasm matches if not beats yours, and you love it! I've seen you two banter back and forth, and the spark is definitely there."

"Did you hear him moaning her name in his sleep last night on the way here?" the bird lover of the trio piped up, causing the object of his friend's taunting to blush rather profusely.

"I almost told Dick we might want to change the sheets!"

Nate glared at Shane. "That was just uncalled for! Get your head out of the gutter! It wasn't that raunchy of a dream."

Jason looked confused. "But this morning, you said you didn't remember it."

"Oh, busted!" the lead singer declared while his curly-haired victim glared once more at Jason. "Seriously, dude, just swallow your pride and ask her out already! It'll be worth it, trust me." He suddenly perked up and looked at his watch. "That reminds me. My girl oughtta be home from school by now, which means I'm due for some Mitchie-time!"

"Did you just say 'Mitchie-time'?" Nate asked incredulously to Shane's back as the latter jogged eagerly into his bedroom to initiate one of the webcam-enhanced AIM sessions that had become semi-routine for him and his girlfriend. "Dude, you are so far gone!"

"You would be too if you'd just get off your butt and do something!" Shane yelled back as he brought his laptop out of sleep mode and double-clicked Mitchie's screenname on his Buddy List. "Even Jason's doing better than you. Did you know he's been in touch with Mitchie's friend Sierra? He said he's going to try asking her out next time they talk!" He promptly invited Mitchie to a video chat, hoping she was there. His eyes lit up when a lively beep signaled her acceptance.

"Sweet! I'm really looking forward to having little pseudo-nephews and pseudo-neices who rattle on endlessly about birds in Chinese!" Nate called back sarcastically

Shane didn't hear the ensuing argument between his two bandmates due to having already zoned out as Mitchie's grinning face appeared on his computer screen. "Hey, beautiful! How was school?" he greeted.

"I just got back. Your timing was flawless!" she replied, looking somewhat tired but still happy to see him. "School was…school. It was not one of my best days."

Shane smiled gently. "What happened?"

Mitchie bit her lip before answering. "Well, I had that math quiz I had to study for last night, and I don't think I'm going to like how it turned out. God, I hate math!" She groaned before continuing. "Then my vindictive gym teacher decided it was a good idea to play volleyball. I swear, for some reason, I never look dorkier than when I'm playing anything involving a net and a ball. Danielle had a field day with it, but after the whole ordeal with Tess, I'm proud to say it didn't phase me too much. My English teacher droned on and on about how to structure an expository essay, and driver's ed is still a little dull because we're still weeks away from any hands-on stuff. It's still the most useful out of all my classes, though."

"I just pictured you in a tank top and gym shorts playing volleyball, and 'dorky' isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe it," Shane smirked with a distant look in his eyes.

Mitchie blushed slightly. "Trust me. You can fantasize all you want, but I never look good in P.E., except maybe when we have the occasional dancing-themed class. Seriously, even Sierra looks better in gym."

"I'll have to tell her you said that," her boyfriend threatened playfully.

"Don't you dare!" she retorted.

Shane chuckled. "So, you have dancing lessons in P.E.?"

"Every once in a while."

"Darn! I've never had any such luck!

Mitchie giggled. "It is fun! Except for that one time in middle school when we did ballroom dancing. That was definitely one of the more awkward moments of my adolescent life."

"Why?" he asked quizzically.

She blushed again. "Well, I got partnered up with Andrew Calvers, of all people. He was my first big crush, and I was never really smooth with guys, so I basically made an idiot of myself all period. I must've stepped on his toes a half-dozen times."

Shane laughed. "I'll have to remember to wear extra-tough shoes if I ever take you out dancing," he teased.

Mitchie scoffed in mock indignation. "Be grateful this conversation is cyber, 'cause I would totally be slapping you right now!"

Her boyfriend smirked again. "So, I take it this punk Andrew never caught on that you liked him and ended up blowing his chance with you?"

"Oh, he caught on," she corrected, inwardly reveling in the slight jealousy that showed itself in Shane's sudden frown. "He asked me out a couple of weeks later, and I was totally psyched! But, to make a long story short, it turned out he just wanted me to help him make another girl jealous. I found out the day after the date, and I ended up coming home in tears because I knew he'd never really liked me to begin with."

"Idiot," the rock star muttered. "I'm sorry, Mitch. That must've stunk."

Mitchie nodded, but a smile reassured him that she had long since overcome the experience. "It did, but it actually ended up morphing into a great family moment between me and my mom that I don't think I'll ever forget. She listened while I bawled my eyes out and said a few things to help me feel a little better. Then she sat me down on the living room couch and brought out a tub of chocolate ice cream. We both ended up pigging out on it while we watched _The Wedding Singer_. Towards the end, I started getting depressed again because, it was a movie, so of course things eventually worked out happily for Robby and Julia. But for me, obviously, they didn't. My mom sensed this even though I didn't say anything, so she patted my back and told me to never lose hope. She said that it might take some time, but one day, I'll find a man who cares enough about me to do something like Robby did for Julia, and that's the guy she said I should hold on to." Her dreamy gaze turned into a soft giggle. "Looking back, the whole thing was kind of sappy. We looked more like a pair of twenty-something girlfriends both recovering from our latest breakups instead of mother and daughter. But I'm really grateful it happened. It meant alot to me."

"You're right. That does sound sappy," Shane quipped.

Mitchie gasped. "You jerk! Way to spoil the mood!" she scolded playfully.

His smirk morphed into a warm smile as he chuckled. "Seriously, though, I admire how close you and your mom seem to be. I only wish me and my mom were like that." A subtly downcast expression clouded his visage.

She frowned, Shane's apparent regret weighing heavy on her own heart. "Well, what's keeping you two apart?" she asked tentatively.

He sighed and paused before answering. "She had an affair once, and I don't think I ever completely forgave her. It's been 11 years, so I know I probably should, but…I don't know. It's just…hard."

"I'm sorry, Shane," she said softly. "I can't imagine how that must've felt, so I'm not sure what advice to give you. I'm sure your mother never stopped loving you, though, even if it seems like she may not have loved your dad for a while."

"Thanks," her boyfriend nodded with a small smile. "And don't worry. It's not like me there's still any hostility between me and my mom. There's just a little something in our relationship that we never got back. Besides, advice isn't really what I need from you. You help me just by being you and being with me"

"Sha-ane," Mitchie whined, "don't say things like that!

He looked amusedly taken aback. "Why not?"

"'Cause it makes me want to kiss you, and I can't do that through a bleepin' webcam!"

Shane laughed. "Well, why don't you keep a kissing tab or something, and you can pay me what I'm due when the tour's over?"

"Fine," she agreed mock-grudgingly. "I guess I can wait another two weeks."

"Hey, this is no picnic for me either!" Shane reminded her. "That white peasant top you're wearing right now is torture! It makes me want a repeat of the end of our first date so bad!"

"Two more weeks, baby," she said softly, adding a touch of playful sultriness to her tone just to taunt him.

Shane groaned. "Two more weeks," he repeated ruefully. "I have a beautiful girlfriend living hundreds of miles away who just makes me like her more and more every day, and I'm stuck in a bus traveling around the country with rock-and-roll's answer to Joey and Chandler!"

It was Mitchie's turn to groan now. "I think you just added another kiss to the tab."

From there, the conversation quickly turned to the topic of how exactly to parse the verses of "Gotta Find You" into a duet for an upcoming Connect Three album which would hopefully feature Mitchie under the now agreed-upon pseudonym "Tori Mitchels." From an initial alternation scheme, they began to tweak and fine-tune the arrangement. Both of them soon had their respective guitars in hand, and they grinned genuinely at each other constantly throughout the process. It would be a couple hours before Shane finally said a reluctant "Good night" to his Mitchie and turned his attention back to his quirky bandmates. By then, he and his girlfriend had a potential hit waiting to be mixed and recorded.

**A/A (Author's Announcement): Any Hispanic or otherwise interested fans out there, I am pleased to announce that my Spanish-language adaptations of "This Is Me" and "Gotta Find You" have finally been performed, and the recordings are now available on YouTube. Please visit my profile for the links. Also, Mitchie's anecdote about her first heartbreak and how her mom helped her overcome it will prove significant later on, probably in this story's own sequel, so keep that in mind.**


	6. Stop Surprising Me!

**A/N: Well, here's another chapter! The new semester at Florida Gulf Coast University officially started today, so I won't be able to update as often as I'd like, but I'll do my best. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, in case anyone's wondering, my request for honest critique of the characterization, realism, and pacing that I first expressed in Chapter 1 does apply to the entire story. So far, things have been pretty fluffy, but expect some drama soon. In the next chapter, for instance, Shane meets Steve Torres for the first time…under less than ideal circumstances. Also, I hope Shane doesn't seem too perfect to be real. I'm trying to keep things as believable as I can.**

"Ugh!" Mitchie groaned softly as she stepped out of her slightly odorous biology classroom into the halls of Pennfield High School. "Why do days like this keep popping up?" she whined.

Sierra meandered her way through the crowd of students eager to finally escape their studies on that lazy Friday afternoon. "Well, look on the bright side," she offered sympathetically. "At least you don't have a truckload of homework like you did last week."

The brunette and the blonde instinctively began the long trek to their two adjacent, lime-green lockers. The walls of the school were made of large, yellowish-white bricks, and the many identical lockers that lined many of them would've made it seem like a maze to any newcomer. Fortunately, neither girl was a new student.

"True," Mitchie conceded with a small smile. "Also, Shane said he'd be officially off the tour either today or tomorrow!" she added, the smile growing somewhat before reverting to the slight frown it had been moments earlier. "I just wish he'd call me and tell me exactly when I can see him again. The suspense is killing me! He's lucky I have school to help distract me a little, 'cause otherwise, I might be nagging him up a wall right about now!"

Sierra's eyes widened and a broad grin spread across her face. "Oh, my God! That reminds me! I can't believe I forgot to tell you! How could this slip my mind! It's only the biggest thing to happen to me in my teenage life since I had Ting Xiansheng tell me I sounded like a native!" Her grin faded partially. "Okay, that sounds really sad when I say it out loud, but I guess it doesn't matter anymore! Oh, God, I'm gushing, aren't I? I'm s'posed to be a brainiac! Brainiacs don't gush!"

"Sierra, focus!" Mitchie giggled at her longtime companion. "I've already got enough suspense waiting for Shane, so spill already!"

Sierra's eyes gleamed as she paused momentarily before revealing, "I think Jason asked me out today!"

"Jason?" the brunette stared. "As in Shane's bandmate Jason?"

"Uh-huh!"

"No way!"

The blonde nodded, still grinning broadly. "We've been getting to know each other a little over the phone, but I never dreamed he'd ask me out! This is the first time this has ever happened to me!"

"And it's with a rock star, too," Mitchie observed with a good-natured smirk, amusedly realizing that most of her friend's ecstasy was due to having been solicited for a date at all rather than the famous identity of the solicitor. "Maybe some of my so-called luck is rubbing off on you!" Inwardly, she couldn't help but feel relieved that her bespectacled friend had established a friendship with Jason. She felt herself being swept away sometimes in her relationship with Shane, and she had occasionally wondered if, even despite her best efforts, Sierra would ultimately become ostracized by her new circle of famous friends.

"Maybe," Sierra agreed humorously. "I just hope I don't blow it. I mean, I've never been on a date before. I have no clue what I'm doing!"

Sensing impending panic, Mitchie gave what she hoped was a reassuring laugh. "Just be natural. That's how it was with me and Shane. The idea of being true to yourself doesn't pop up in virtually every DCOM imaginable for nothing, you know. It's a cliché, but with good reason."

"You're probably right," the blonde admitted. "I'll probably still be a little nervous, though, but I guess that's normal, huh?"

The brunette chuckled and nodded, but the verbal response that was on her tongue was cut off by another female voice.

"Oh, my God!" cried a beautiful, auburn-haired girl dressed in a designer camisole, jean skirt, and high-heels as she strode down the hall clutching a magazine. "Shane Gray bought a condo here in Pennfield!"

"What?!" gaped Mitchie as the subtly aloof Valley girl drew near, all eyes on her.

"_Sources have confirmed that teen heartthrob Shane Gray of Connect Three has closed the deal on what is presumed to be a new bachelor pad in downtown Pennfield, California_," the boldly made-up debutante read to her two copycat lackeys, who followed with eyes glued to the relevant page. "_Gray refused to explicitly state his reasons for lodging in this little-known locality, but anonymous insiders claim the 18-year-old rocker made the move to be closer to someone who has long resided in the area. Rumors abound as to who this person is and the nature of Gray's relationship with him/her._" She stopped in her tracks and held the tabloid to her heart dramatically. "If he's going to be living here, I might be able talk to him more often…and then maybe he'd even go out with me!"

"That would absolutely rock, Danielle!" said one of her minions excitedly before cautiously digressing, "but what if this mysterious friend they're talking about is his girlfriend?"

Danielle scoffed. "Don't be silly, Zoe," she replied as she resumed walking, immediately prompting her companions to follow. "If Shane Gray had a girlfriend, don't you think the whole country would know by now?"

Mitchie and Sierra exchanged sly grins as the trio of living teen-movie clichés passed them, barely even seeing the two. As soon as Danielle and her posse were out of earshot, the brunette immediately drew out her cell phone and called her boyfriend. The blonde caught on and huddled closer to her friend to listen.

"Hey, Mitch!" answered Shane's eager voice.

"What's this I hear about you buying a condo in my hometown?" Mitchie asked immediately, not bothering with any initial pleasantries.

"How'd you…?" he began before grunting in realization. "Darn paparazzi! I swear, they're like effin' spies! It was s'posed to be a surprise."

"Hm, you seem to be like surprising me," she smirked as she and her blonde companion began walking down the hall again, still huddled together with the brunette still clutching her phone.

"What can I say? I like seeing you happy, and you look twice as happy if whatever makes you happy is a surprise, so I get twice the high!" At this, Sierra let out a subdued but nonetheless excited coo.

Mitchie rolled her eyes but smiled contentedly despite herself before responding. "Shane, you cheeseball, how many times do I have to tell you to stop saying things that make me want to kiss you when you know darn well I can't?!"

"'Cause it'll only make the accumulated bulk delivery that much sweeter when you can! That's my evil plan! Mwahahahaha!"

Mitchie giggled. "Seriously, though, you moved because of me?"

"Well, it's not a complete move. It'll be my weekend getaway. I was hoping we could start spending some time together every weekend. I'm even going to request that the label schedule as many of my business engagements as they can for the weekdays while you're in school."

"Sha-ane!" she replied in awe of his thoughtfulness. "It seriously scares me sometimes how committed you can be!"

Shane chuckled. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, if – God forbid – we should break up, I can easily resell the place and move out since I'm only bringing my most frequently used belongings there. Heck, it'll probably be worth more than I paid for it just because I graced it with my celebrity presence!"

Mitchie could almost hear her boyfriend's eye-roll and silently sympathized with his annoyance at the special treatment he often received. She smirked in mock suspicion. "So, let me get this straight, pop star. You've arranged it so that you either get to be close to your girlfriend or make a profit on a fancy condo?"

"That's why I'm the smart one in the band."

"More like devious!"

"Eh, to-may-to, to-mah-to."

"When am I gonna see you again?" she abruptly whined as she reached her locker, suddenly wishing with renewed vigor that she was having this conversation face to face. After all, he was especially cute when he smirked at her. "You've been frustratingly vague so far!"

"Sooner than you think, Mitch. I promise," Shane answered.

Mitchie growled as she opened her locker and practically threw her textbooks into it. "Not helping!"

Her boyfriend chuckled at her. "Anyway, I gotta go. I'll be seeing you soon, beautiful!"

"How soon is 'soon?'" she demanded before realizing the line was dead. "Argh! Men!"

Sierra laughed as she exchanged a book from her backpack for one from her locker. "Trouble in paradise?" she teased.

Mitchie opened her mouth to retort, but the PA system chose that moment to announce, "Michelle Torres to the office, please. Michelle Torres to the office."

"Not on a Friday!" the brunette groaned as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. "What could they possibly want?"

The blonde shrugged and gave her friend a sympathetic smile. "Call me when you get home?"

"Yeah, okay," Mitchie replied resignedly.

"Cool," Sierra confirmed. "See ya," she called as she scurried off to the buses.

The young songbird sighed and began her journey to the office. Her mind barely registered the sights and sounds she encountered on the trip until she arrived at her destination. She opened the door and strode into the administration office, whose lush blue carpet juxtaposed the cold beige tile of the rest of the school. She wasted no time in approaching the main desk. "Michelle Torres here," she informed the receptionist politely.

The middle-aged woman with short, curly blonde hair responded without hesitation. "A family friend is here to give you a ride home today."

"Family friend?" the teen repeated in confusion.

Behind her, a tall figure rose from one of the chairs provided for waiting purposes and stepped up beside her. Clothed in a black T-shirt, loose-fitting jeans, a ballcap, and dark sunglasses, he made Mitchie jump in momentary fright. "Yeah. You remember ol' Greg Shawn, right?" he asked, discretely lowering his shades for a moment to peer into her eyes.

Mitchie's jaw dropped as she recognized none other than Shane Gray standing before her. She bit her tongue to stifle a squeal and settled for grinning like an idiot as she quickly attempted to play along with his charade. "Oh,…right,…Of course! Great to see you again,…Greg!"

Shane smirked at her, though she saw a hint of a warm smile as well. "Well, we'd better get going. Wouldn't want to be late for dinner."

The two teenagers thanked the receptionist and exited as quickly as they could without arousing suspicion. Once outside the office, Shane took her hand and led her down the long corridor towards the back door, which led to the expansive rear parking lot. Mitchie rounded on him as soon as they'd left the building. "Shane! When are you going to stop surprising me like this?!"

"When the look on your face I get when I do stops being adorable," he retorted as he continued leading her through the maze of vehicles towards his own car.

"Cheeseball!" she shot back, still grinning nevertheless.

Shane's only response was another characteristic smirk as he stopped abruptly in front of a specific parking space. Mitchie turned and gasped. Before her was a red 2007 Jaguar convertible!

"Whoah!" she gawked. "This is yours?!"

"No, we're pulling a grand theft auto, 'cause there's no way a rock star could afford this!" he replied sarcastically.

Mitchie shoved her boyfriend playfully. "Jerk!" She then stood there smiling helplessly at him for a moment before abandoning all pretense and embracing him tightly. "I missed you," she said softly.

"I missed you more," challenged Shane.

She rolled her eyes and drew back to face him. Gripping the back of his head gently, she drew him into a slow, tender kiss that he instantly returned.

As he pulled away from the kiss, he stared at her in mock shock. "Why, Mitchie!" he teased. "I'm an old family friend! I thought I was like a brother to you!" Her subsequent glare proved simply too alluring for him, though. With a groan, he gave in. "Oh, to heck with it!" he said intensely before capturing her supple lower lip between both of his own and initiating a more heated lip-lock which she happily reciprocated.


	7. Caught RedLipped

**A/N: I'm on a roll! I think the pace of this story is going to speed up now that Shane's going to be around more. In this chapter, Shane and Mitchie have their first real disagreement. It's not really a fight, but it is something that requires some serious discussion to resolve. The end of this chapter will also be very interesting, I promise! Also, don't expect there to be a consistent time elapsed between each chapter. The goal is to cover the highlights of Shane and Mitchie's relationship and Mitchie's career as both develop. Up to three chapters may cover the same day (as the case will be with Chapters 6, 7, and 8), but weeks or even a couple of months may pass between two consecutive chapters. It varies.**

A cozy, mid-afternoon haze lay over the moderately-sized two-story home in Californian suburbia. The white plaster walls and tan carpet complemented the light oaken furniture and pastel-colored upholstery. The master and mistress of the house were both away on business, the former managing his hardware store and the latter catering a local wedding. The silence afforded by this absence was abruptly destroyed by the loud creak of the front door as it opened to reveal two chatting teenagers. The girl was dressed in faded blue skinny jeans and a lime-green baby-doll top. The boy was dressed in loose-fitting jeans and a black T-shirt.

"You had to have been there, Mitch!" said Shane between fits of laughter. "He screamed like a little girl! It was priceless!"

Mitchie giggled. "Why did that eagle come so close anyway?"

"Who cares?" he answered. "It was effin' hilarious!"

She rolled her eyes. "That's mean!"

"No. What's mean is telling him I sent a video of the incident to Caitlyn just to see his reaction." He ignored her glare and paused thoughtfully. "Wait, no. Mean would be actually doing that."

Mitchie slapped Shane's upper arm in mock admonition. "Jerk," she condemned, nevertheless unable to keep the fondness she felt from giving her tone a warm edge to it.

"You keep saying that, but somehow it never sounds quite sincere," he teased softly as he drew her closer to him.

"Trust me. When I do mean it, you'll know," she replied in quiet playfulness before abandoning all impishness to smile warmly at him. "It's good to have you back for a while. Cyber-you was okay, but I was really starting to miss being able to slap you when you said something stupid or kiss you when you said something sweet."

Shane smirked and leaned in to kiss her, and she met his lips with hers willingly. They parted after a moment and gazed at each other before sharing another tender kiss.

"So, I take it Nate still hasn't owned up about his obvious feelings for Caitlyn?" Mitchie queried, withdrawing from him slightly to face him more fully.

"Nope," Shane admitted, "although the teasing probably doesn't help."

"Sha-ane!"

"What? He gets on me about being whipped all the time! It's payback! Besides, that's how guys motivate each other to take action."

"Fine, but being whipped is not a bad thing!" She slapped his chest again lightly.

"Easy for you to say," scoffed the rock star. "Have you ever heard of a girl being whipped? If a guy wears all the pants in a relationship, it looks chauvinistic, but if a girl wears all the pants in a relationship, it looks sweet. Where's the justice in that?"

Mitchie shook her head amusedly and kissed him again, somewhat more deeply this time. "I don't think it's about who wears the pants in the relationship," she corrected softly as she pulled away. "I think it's about commitment, and you amaze me sometimes with how committed you seem. But I'm really committed too. So, in a way, I think we're both whipped." Shane responded with a familiar expression that seemed to make her blush every time she saw it. "You're giving me that look again."

"You're being 'good-different' again," he retorted with a gentle smirk.

She giggled before breaking his gaze to look around momentarily. "So, can I get you anything?" she asked as she headed into the living room.

"Nah," he replied as he followed her. "Nate sprang for Subways just before I left to pick you up. I must've scarfed down, like, two whole sandwiches."

Mitchie rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's piggish appetite. "Speaking of Nate, I have an idea for getting him to talk more to Caitlyn. Actually, it's something I've been planning on asking you for a while, but it plays along with our little matchmaking scheme." She sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her expectantly.

"We have a scheme?" Shane said a little worriedly as he complied with her silent invitation. She glared at him. "Sorry. So, what did you have in mind?"

She smiled. "Well, if our duets end up taking me anywhere career-wise, I want to help her get noticed, too. So I was wondering if we could have Caitlyn mix a couple of full-fledged pop-style backing tracks for them. She did an awesome job with 'This Is Me,' and I'd really like to keep working with her. When we make the pitch, I think proper pop versions of our songs would be more impressive than just acoustic."

Shane pondered this, but his eyes soon belied moderate concern. "I don't know, Mitchie. The label is only letting Peggy do the duet with Nate 'cause it's sort of a tradition going back to when they were a smaller company and had closer ties with Camp Rock. To be honest, I'm kind of pushing the band's luck as it is making a special request to bring you into the picture on top of that. Adding yet another newcomer to the package,…I'm afraid they'll think it's too many newbies to take on all at once. They're ridiculously cautious about that sometimes. And not to be mean or anything, but honestly, it's more important to me that you get your shot than Caitlyn getting hers. I don't want to do anything that might mess up your chances."

"How can you say that?" Mitchie asked, somewhat disappointed in her boyfriend's reaction. "Caitlyn's really talented! She's not going to make me look bad. If anything, her work might end up being what seals the deal! You've heard what she can do. Heck, you yourself sang to one of her mixes. She's my friend, and this is an opportunity for her just like it is for me."

"I never said Caitlyn wasn't talented!" he protested. "Believe me, I know what she can do! What I'm saying is that talent isn't always everything as far as the label is concerned. Taking on three newcomers all at the same time might seem too risky no matter how talented they think you and Caitlyn are individually. If you absolutely insist on attaching yourself to Caitlyn as a packaged deal, than you both might miss out on an opportunity you might've gotten if you'd approached the label individually."

"I see what you're getting at," his girlfriend conceded, "but Shane, I don't think this will be the only opportunity for either of us. Maybe we'll learn that it really is better to pursue stuff like this individually. But right now, it's a risk I'm willing to take. Also, I don't want you giving me special priority just 'cause I'm your girlfriend. Caitlyn deserves this just as much as I do."

Shane sighed and nodded. "I know. You're right. I just…know how much you'd love for your songs to really be heard, and I want to do everything I can to make that happen."

Mitchie's face softened as she kissed him lightly on the lips. "I know, and I adore you for that, but it's more important to me that I don't leave my friends behind. So if you really want me to be happy, then that's what has to be more important to you too."

He smiled and nodded decisively. "Okay, that's cool. I can respect that. In fact, I admire it in a way." His eyes brightened. "Hey, while we're talking about this, why don't we see about duetizing 'This Is Me' so Caitlyn knows exactly what she's working with for both of our songs."

She pecked him on the lips. "That's a great idea! Let me grab my guitar, and we'll get started!"

"Sweet."

Mitchie rose and jogged up the stairs to retrieve her guitar, returning hardly two minutes later with the instrument in hand. The couple promptly set out to parse out the verses of "This Is Me" into a duet, much as they had done a fortnight before to "Gotta Find You." For roughly an hour and a half, they exchanged ideas and performed several partial attempts. Shane occasionally injected some humor into the task, making Mitchie laugh out loud at his deliberately wacky suggestions. The excitement grew as they both sensed that they were nearing the ideal arrangement until they finally struck proverbial gold.

"Okay, I think we've nailed it, Mitch! Let's take it from the top!" Shane beamed at her.

Mitchie nodded eagerly and began strumming the familiar chords for the umpteenth time.

(_**Shane**_, _Mitchie_, both)

_I've always been the kind of girl  
__That hid my face,  
__So afraid to tell the world  
__What I've got to say.  
__But I have this dream  
__Right inside of me.  
__I'm going to let it show.  
__It's time.  
To let you know._

_This is real.  
__This is me.  
__I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.  
__Now, gonna let the light  
__Shine on me.  
__Now I've found  
__Who I am.  
__There's no way to hold it in.  
__No more hiding who I wanna be.  
__This is me._

_**Do you know what it's like  
**__**To feel so in the dark,  
**__**To dream about a life  
**__**Where you're the shining star.  
**__**Even though it seems  
**__**Like it's too far away,  
**__**I have to believe  
**__**In myself.  
**__**It's the only way.**_

_**This is real.  
**__**This is me.  
**__**I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.  
**__**Now, gonna let the light  
**__**Shine on me.  
**__**Now I've found  
**__**Who I am.  
**__**There's no way to hold it in.  
**__**No more hiding who I wanna be.  
**__**This is me.**_

_This is real.  
This is me.  
_I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.  
Now, gonna let the light  
Shine on me.  
**_Now I've found  
Who I am.  
_**There's no way to hold it in.  
No more hiding who I wanna be.  
This is me.

_Now I've found  
Who I am.  
_**_There's no way to hold it in.  
_**No more hiding who I wanna be.  
This is me.

Mitchie's eyes gleamed as she grinned broadly at Shane in realization only to find him looking back with an expression that matched her own. Their eyes met, and they silently agreed that this was the version that would hopefully be on Connect Three's next CD.

"That's it!" he declared, pecking her on the lips in excitement. "You're brilliant, Mitchie!"

"I am, aren't I?" she quipped smugly.

Shane's jaw dropped in mock shock. "Oh, no! You're not even famous yet, and it's gone to your head already!" he joked back. "That's it! The deal's off! I can't have my girlfriend turning into a bratty pop star!"

His girlfriend giggled and smacked his chest playfully. "Shut up!"

He chuckled at her. "Maybe we really are made for each other."

Despite his jest, Mitchie couldn't help but blush slightly. Still, she played along impishly. "Nah. Maybe I'm turning into a bratty pop star, but you're not a jerky rock star anymore. Now, you're just a big cheeseball!"

"Hey!" protested Shane. "I'll have you know…"

"Relax," she cut him off with a half-joking smile. "I happen to like cheese."

He smirked in satisfaction. "Good."

Mitchie giggled softly and bit her lip amusedly. Shane's eyes glazed over with subtle arousal. He gave her a fond smile as he gently took her guitar out of her hands and set it aside. The questioning look she gave him only enticed him more as he leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. She responded immediately in kind. Then, he withdrew briefly, and their eyes met for an instant before Shane wrapped his arms around her waist, drew her closer, and nudged her lips apart with his own, initiating a more passionate lip-lock. His desires now clear, she contentedly obliged him by snaking her arms around his neck and pressing her body firmly against his. The latter gesture solicited a moan from Shane's mouth shortly before the two pulled apart for air. Mitchie's self-satisfied smile somehow made her look alluring all over again, but it was she who parted her lips and initiated the third kiss. Momentarily sucking on his upper lip, she realized her legs were falling asleep. Smirking into the current lip-lock, she surprised Shane by gently shifting and moving until he was lying on his back with her straddling his hips. He pulled away to observe the new position, approved it with a gleam in his eye, and captured her already parted lips with his once more.

Their lips continued to interlock hungrily until oxygen once again became a necessity. Upon freeing their mouths from this kiss, Mitchie turned her cheek slightly, hoping her boyfriend would take the hint. She smiled in contentment as he did as she'd hoped, trailing slow yet warm kisses along her lower jaw and neck. As he did this, she trailed similar kisses up his cheek. As he neared her collarbone, where she knew from experience he would probably stop and start working his way back up to her mouth, she arrived at the crook of his ear, where she let her lips linger for a moment. This caused Shane to tangibly shiver in pleasure as he finally placed a lingering kiss of his own on her collar. She moaned softly before their mouths reclaimed each other. It was her turn to shiver as she felt him play with the hem of her top.

The couple was so engrossed in each other that they failed to hear the creak of the front door swinging open for the second time that day. Nor did they hear the approaching footsteps of two adult figures. Mitchie did not even hear her mother's gasp, and Shane was too preoccupied to become consciously aware of it. Both of them, however, did hear her father's voice resounding clearly through the room.

"Michelle Demetria Torres, what do you think you're doing?!" said Steve Torres in a slightly elevated but very serious tone.

Shane and Mitchie sprang apart with lightning speed to find her parents standing before them. Connie looked worried and perturbed, but Steve's hard glare was what made Shane suddenly resemble a deer caught in headlights. Mitchie gaped at her mother and father, unable to speak as the sheer awkwardness of the situation gripped her.

**A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, but you guys have forced my hand. I'm just not happy with the current review count. The prequel got more reviews than this story currently has with half as many chapters, so I'm a little confused. However, I plan to have the next chapter up either tomorrow or the next day, so I'm not completely without mercy.**


	8. Explanations

**A/N: Ugh! I'm afraid that, despite my best efforts to keep things real, this story is turning out too idealistic. This story has had very little conflict so far, which may be why it's not as popular as I'd anticipated. I do have a major falling-out planned between Shane and Mitchie (that I promise they will overcome), but it won't happen for another two or three chapters. In the meantime, enjoy the fluff for whatever it's worth!**

A few seemingly hour-long seconds passed before Mitchie finally found her voice. "Dad…" she began tentatively. "I swear, this isn't as bad as it looks. Could you please stop staring at us like that and let me explain?"

"I'm listening," said Steve in the same serious tone, his glare softening only slightly.

Mitchie swallowed and looked sympathetically at Shane for a moment. Were it not for the gravity of the situation, his expression would have been downright comical. Turning back to her father, she cleared her throat nervously before continuing. "Shane got off his tour today and surprised me at school. I rode home with him, and we talked for a while. Then, we decided to work on a song we're hoping to record." She sighed. That was the easy part. Although she did not believe she had been doing anything wrong by engaging in the activities that followed, it would nevertheless be something her father would be very uncomfortable hearing. "Then, we started…kissing,…and then one thing led to another. I promise, what you saw was the worst of it, though." She held her breath, waiting for either of her parents to respond.

Steve exhaled. "Mitchie, when you first told me about your relationship with Shane, I'll admit I was a little apprehensive and uncomfortable with the idea. But I've known since you were born that this day would come sooner or later, and your mom put in a good word for Shane since she'd gotten to know him a bit at camp. So I accepted it and hoped for the best. But Mitchie, based on what I've just seen, I think you're moving too fast. Shane is 18. He's probably had more experience than you, and I don't want you getting in over your head just to keep up with him."

For the first time in several minutes, Shane managed to speak, albeit quite timidly. "If it helps, Mr. Torres, I'm not as experienced as you might think. Being famous and all, it's almost impossible to get close enough to any one girl long enough to get really…involved."

"Yes, Steve," supported Connie cautiously, "I think that's one of the things that Shane likes about Mitchie. She doesn't throw herself at him like a shallow fangirl." Her daughter's boyfriend gave her an appreciative nod. "In fact, that's one of the more reassuring things about this relationship."

"I know, and I'm proud of that," agreed Steve, the hard edge in his glare and vocal tone waivering slightly "But I'm still not comfortable with how intense things seem to have gotten between them. I just think they need to slow it down a bit."

"I'm honestly not too worried about that," said his wife, cutting him off before he could protest. "It was a little more passionate than I expected things to be after only three months of dating, and I sure didn't like actually bearing witness to it anymore than you did, but I don't think Mitchie's in any danger." She turned to Mitchie in digression, letting her daughter know wordlessly that she still wasn't completely without fault. "What bothers me more about this whole situation is the fact that neither one of you let us know that you were going to be home alone together."

"Yes," Steve concurred, facing his daughter with a calmer but still stern demeanor. "If you tell me nothing more serious than what I saw happened here today, I believe you. But the fact that you didn't call or something and tell us what was going on only makes both of you look guilty. Shane especially, because my instinct is to wonder if it just slipped his mind or he consciously didn't want us to know that he was going to be alone with my daughter in her house."

"It just slipped my mind," Shane said in an attempt to reassure Steve that he had no questionable intentions. "I'm sorry. I just missed her so much I guess I wasn't quite thinking straight."

"Same here," Mitchie admitted quietly. "I was just so happy to see him that it didn't really occur to me. I'm sorry."

"I understand. I can see how much you two like each other," Connie replied diplomatically. "Just don't let it happen again. If you two are going to be home alone together, we need to know about it."

Steve sighed resignedly and looked at his daughter, his expression somewhat gentler now. "I still think you two need to slow down a bit, but you're mother's right. The more important issue is that you keep us informed. We do our best not to be overprotective, but we still want to be just protective enough, and the only way we can do that is if we know what's going on."

"Thank you, Dad," Mitchie responded softly.

Meanwhile, Shane was feeling somewhat more at ease but still indecisive about whether he should say anything else unless he had to. At the last minute, he decided it was worth the attempt to establish some initial trust with Steve. "Mr. Torres," he began as he rose to his feet. "I just want you to know that, as far as how intense things get physically, I only go as far as Mitchie's willing to let me. No pressure, no complaining. And believe it or not, I do have some boundaries of my own. What you saw is definitely not the only way I enjoy being with her." He winced upon hearing that last statement aloud, and his fading apprehension flared up again. "That didn't quite come out right. What I mean is…"

"Relax, Shane," Steve cut him off in an even tone. "I think I know what you mean, and I appreciate what you're trying to do." He took a step forward towards his daughter's suitor and eyed him with lingering suspicion. "Just don't hurt her, okay?"

Shane smiled cautiously. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"That's another thing, Dad," Mitchie supplemented. "The only reason I'm willing to go as far as I am with him is because I feel comfortable with him," she spoke slowly since she was just becoming consciously aware of these feelings as she spoke them. "I feel secure that I can be a little bold with him and he won't take it to mean I'm open to anything."

Her father nodded in satisfaction while his wife smiled proudly at their daughter. "Well," said Connie with a single clap of her hands in an effort to ease what little awkwardness remained. "I think it's time to move past this and maybe give your dad and Shane a chance to get acquainted the right way." The latter half of this suggestion miraculously evoked a small chuckle from her husband. "Would you like to stay for dinner, Shane?"

Shane turned to Mitchie, who grinned in relief. "I'd love that, Connie," he replied with a grin of his own.

--SMITCHIE--

Dinner proved to be a rather effective icebreaker. Connie had promptly prepared a meal of fried steak, mashed potatoes, homemade bread, and peas that was a familiar combo in the Torres household. Shane politely refused the mashed potatoes but helped himself to a rather sizable helping of the fried steak, took a mild dose of the peas, and raved about the bread. Conversation between Shane and Steve, which was the primary focus of the meal for Mitchie, began as mere small-talk. After roughly five minutes of mostly comfortable silence broken only by the clinking of silverware against china, the rock star cleared his throat and enquired about his prospective father-in-law's occupation. Mitchie resisted the urge to groan as her father launched into a tale she had heard so often over the course of her life that she could probably recite it flawlessly herself.

Torres' Tools had its origins in a popular garage sale hosted by her grandfather that had quickly become an annual event in Pennfield. As a boy, Steve had often aided his father in overseeing the sale. Upon returning from college with a business degree, Steve had high ambitions for formalizing the garage sale into an entrepreneurial establishment. It had taken weeks to convince his down-to-earth dad to do so, but the aging family man had ultimately let his son proceed with his ambitious plans, and the rest was history.

Mitchie smiled in silent gratitude when her father reciprocated Shane's inquiry by asking how Connect Three had formed. Shane humorously remarked that the tale wasn't as inspiring as Steve's but nevertheless recounted it. He had met Nate at age 13 during his first year at Camp Rock. The two had been paired up in a composition class and had become fast friends, realizing that they seemed to work well together. Jason had arrived a year later at Camp Rock, a social misfit whose love of birds was matched only by his love of music. Shane and Nate had helped bring out the tall introvert's bass skills, and the trio had joined forces for Final Jam that same year. The only thing they had won that year was the realization that they had potential as a team, so they had vowed to join forces again for the following year. That fateful Final Jam, they had performed the song that a visiting talent scout had claimed was a "hit waiting to happen," and as with the elder Torres' store, the rest was history.

"The funny thing is..." Shane added as an afterthought as he hungrily bit into his third slice of bread, "…the song that got us discovered started with Jason randomly commenting that he believed people would live in underwater cities by 3000 AD. In fact, I think the original title was actually _3000 AD_." He chuckled. "It was definitely one of his spacier moments, but Nate and I both owe him for it!"

Mitchie giggled. "You never told me that part!" she observed. "I remember when that song first came out. Everyone in school was either listening to it on their iPods, singing it, or dancing to it. I finally had to find out what all the buzz was about, and then even I got a little caught up in the craze."

"A little?" Connie scoffed. "You learned the chords to it in one day and came home with three Connect Three posters the next day!"

"Mo-om!" the teen blushed crimson as her boyfriend smirked at her and her father chuckled. "Shane likes me because I don't act like an obsessed fan around him! Don't put thoughts into his head that might make him dump me!"

"Don't worry, Mitch," replied Shane half-seriously. "I wouldn't dream of it, 'cause I know that's in the past. What matters is how you treat me now, and that's what made me fall for you."

"Cheeseball," she teased in a tone that nevertheless belied sincere warmth.

He half-smirked and half-smiled at her. "Only you can get away with calling me that. Just don't tell Nate or Jason."

They gazed at each other for a moment until Connie cleared her throat. "Speaking of getting discovered," she said, "are you two going to pitch the Final Jam duet to Shane's label or anything? I heard you were working on a song to present to them or something."

"Actually," Shane answered, "the guys and I are working out a meeting for sometime in the next couple of weeks to discuss our new sound, and Mitchie's a big part of it. We decided we wanted to take her song and the song I wrote for her and make each one into a separate duet, and we've already figured out how to divide up the verses and everything! Caitlyn's going to be mixing the backing tracks for us, so it'll be a big opportunity for her too."

Mitchie perked up. "That reminds me. I should probably call her and let her know what we're doing so she can get to work."

"Yeah, 'cause after she makes the instrumentals, we need to schedule some recording time," Shane added.

His girlfriend looked at him quizzically. "Why? I have equipment up in my room."

Her boyfriend shook his head, amused at her naiveté. "Nuh-huh. No offense, Mitch, but your song is getting the professional treatment it deserves. My label has a local studio in Sacramento, and I have access to the band's private booth."

Mitchie's jaw dropped. "Me?! In a real recording studio?!" She squealed and turned to her mother who readily shared her glee.

Shane looked on, loving the sight of her happiness. "If all goes well, our duets will be on Connect Three's next album," he declared.

"Oh, my God, Mitchie!" exclaimed Connie, grinning broadly at her daughter. "This could be your big break!"

"Well, they have to like what they hear first," the teen reminded her mother, smiling at the opportunity but unwilling to raise her hopes prematurely high.

"They'd be crazy not to!" her boyfriend stated.

"Shane…" she warned, turning serious. "Listen, I don't want you pushing them, okay? If this is my big shot, I want to come by it honestly. I don't want them signing me just because I happen to be dating one of their biggest stars. In fact, don't even tell them it's your girlfriend you're pitching to them until after they've listened to our songs. Please?"

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "As much as I hate it sometimes, I also admire that about you. Just promise me that, no matter what happens, you won't give up on your dream. Because you're so talented, Mitch. Your songs really deserve to be heard."

"You're totally biased," she insisted, smiling nonetheless at his words.

"Need I remind you that that song of yours had me looking for you all summer before we ever got together?" Shane retorted.

Mitchie rolled her eyes playfully before smiling again to convey sincerity. "Fine. I promise," she said softly.

As both parents observed this interaction, Connie shot her husband a pointed look. Steve responded with a resigned smile. It would be a long time before he trusted Shane completely, but Mitchie seemed genuinely happy with him, so he resolved to give the rock star as fair a chance as paternal instinct would allow. He only hoped he wouldn't regret it.


	9. Collapse

**A/N: First of all, I hope it doesn't take too long for those of you who've read this before to recover from the inevitable double-take at seeing this nearly year-old story miraculously resurrected. Secondly, I decided to bring on the drama a little sooner than originally planned, so be prepared for a Smitchie blowout. It will, however, be promptly resolved in the very next chapter, which I will most likely have posted no later than tomorrow.**

**Also, Sierra's canonical passion for Mandarin has been expanded into a dual love of Mandarin and Latin for purposes of plot. The idea of "Roman Rockers" is actually a personal fantasy of mine that I decided to integrate into the story. **

There was hardly a sound throughout the large high school auditorium. Several hundred retractable seats with maroon upholstery stood empty around a semicircular stage and its equally vacant orchestra pit. Atop the polished wooden planks of the stage, Mitchie reached the top of an aging ladder and began using thick blue rope to tie the corner of a large canvas banner to the one of the horizontal lighting rods hidden behind the curtain canopy. The banner declared in bold red font "WELCOME, ROMAN ROCKERS." Mitchie tied slowly, distracted by thoughts of music and Shane. Being at school after-hours to earn community service hours was not her idea of how to spend a Monday evening, but when Sierra had alerted her that the Latin Club wanted help prepping the auditorium for an assembly, she'd grudgingly realized that she needed the opportunity. Sierra herself sat at a small fold-out table in the center of the stage assembling and stapling lyric books. The two were accompanied by Brian Willhelm, a tall boy about 17 years old with gray-blue eyes and a blonde crew cut. The amateur electrician was currently stripping the damaged plug on his electric guitar into a makeshift replacement so he could then connect it to his amplifier.

Brian was a member of an unusual band called Roman Rockers, who would likely rival Connect Three in popularity were it not for the fact that the educational nature of their work narrowed their audience primarily to secondary or post-secondary Latin classes and self-taught Latin-language enthusiasts. The band was essentially a six-member team of former garage musicians whose love of music was matched only by their love of the ancient tongue, and their mainstay was writing Latin adaptations of current hits from various musical genres and performing them for students nationwide. There was hardly a classroom in America that had not experienced the refreshing spin they put on what could all too often be an otherwise dry subject, and Latin students frequently mobbed them like typical fans. The mainstream music industry was even aware of them, albeit vaguely, and Mitchie randomly remembered one commentator remarking, "You know your song's a real hit when Roman Rockers do a Latin cover of it."

Boredom began to overtake Mitchie as she secured the banner. "So, Sierra," she grinned mischievously, her voice echoing softly, "seeing as this comfortable silence we've got going is starting to get old, how 'bout you tell me how your date with Jason went."

Sierra blushed. "Mitchie…"

"C'mon! We haven't had a decent chance to talk about it all day, and I'm dying to know! I mean, you went out on your first date yesterday!" _With a rock star no less_, was the addendum that Mitchie left unvoiced. "That's definitely cause for celebration! So spill already!"

The bespectacled blonde giggled. "Fair enough." She topped off a new stack of finished program booklets and set them aside. "It was kind of embarrassing, though. At least, the first half-hour or so. I just…had a hard time believing that this was actually happening, so I was a little out of it for a good while." She let out a nervous chuckle. "It didn't seem to phase him, though."

"Where did he take you?"

"That's the thing! He took me bowling!"

Mitchie furrowed her brow. "Bowling?"

"I know! I was expecting a fancy restaurant or something, which actually would've made the whole thing even more intimidating. Anyway, it turned out to be a really good icebreaker. Once I realized how down-to-earth he was, my nerves calmed down considerably."

"I'm surprised he didn't take you to the nearest bird sanctuary or something."

Sierra laughed. "I asked him about that. He said that the last time he did that for a first date, the girl ended up calling him a freak and never answered his calls again. Apparently, Nate told him it was because he didn't let her in on this weird fixation he has with birds gently enough. Personally, I would've understood though, 'cause I can be just as freaky about _zhōngwén_ or _linguā latīnā_."

"Poor Jasey," Mitchie pouted. "I'll bet that girl was just some rich Valley girl who was after his fame. Shane's had his fair share of them, so it probably comes with the territory of his…occupation."

Her friend nodded. "That's the impression I got, too. Anyway, we basically chatted and bowled for a few hours. It turns out, he used to be as big of a geek in school as I am, and he said he probably still would be if music hadn't come along and changed everything." She giggled. "He says he went from getting virtually no attention from girls to getting much more than he could even handle. He even did this cute eye roll and whined about ending up right between where the sun don't shine." She then let her lips curve into an uncharacteristic smirk. "I didn't believe in his former geekdom at first, but by the time we were done, I could definitely see his geeky side coming out. That boy may be a killer bassist, but he's a total klutz with a bowling ball. A couple of times, he'd take a good swing with his ball arm, but for whatever reason he couldn't quite let go. So he ends up throwing the other arm back and kicking both legs in the air to counterbalance the weight or something. For a split second he looks like one of those Matrix guys. Then,…he comes crashing down flat on his face."

Mitchie clapped her hand over her mouth and guffawed, and even Brian let out a laugh to show he had been passively listening as Sierra continued.

"The best part was when he'd look up at me afterwards. I hate to sound like a sadist, but he's so cute when he's embarrassed! Whatever nerves I still had were completely gone after that!" The mousy blonde's lips suddenly morphed into a pout. "Does that make me a bad person?" she whined.

The brunette chuckled gently. "Of course not, Sierra! I can tell you really like him."

Sierra nodded sheepishly as she tried to staple a new booklet together. When no staple came out, she furrowed her brow and opened the stapler. "Crud!" she exclaimed with a sigh as she rose from her seat. I gotta get some more staplers. BRB, Mitch!"

Mitchie nodded before furrowing her own brow. "Wait. Since when does my nerdy best friend use textspeak?" She looked around to find that Sierra had already scurried out of earshot. Mourning the loss of one of the few available distractions, she blew a strand of ashen hair out of her face.

"Sounds like someone's in love," chuckled Brian, sensing the return of his companion's boredom.

"Seems that way," she grinned. "I'm so happy for her! She gets out even less than I do, so it's about time she find a guy."

"I know what you mean," agreed Brian. "So,…you're boyfriend's name is Shane, Sierra's going out with a guy named Jason, and Jason has a friend named Nate. Do I have that right?"

"Yeah," Mitchie said slowly. _Have we said too much?_

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were going out with Connect Three!" He chuckled at his own joke, but that didn't stop Mitchie from freezing momentarily before she realized he was kidding.

"Y-yeah," she giggled nervously. "Good one." Still nervous, she decided to abandon her post atop the ladder, and she absent-mindedly began her descent by turning around. This proved to be a bad move when she tripped on one of the rungs and lost her balance. With a high-pitched yelp, she braced herself for a hard landing only to have her fall broken by Brian. She instinctively gripped his shoulders as his arms encircled her waist. With a grunt from the boy, the two landed roughly with their noses millimeters apart. "You okay?" he asked amusedly.

Mitchie chuckled as she prepared to lift herself off of him and was about to respond when a second male voice cut her off. "Mitchie…?"

She turned her head to find a tall figure standing in front of the orchestra pit in sunglasses and a baseball cap. For an instant, she didn't recognize him, but the familiar raven locks protruding from underneath the cap soon betrayed his identity. "Shane!" she cried in surprise as she rose to her feet. The unconscious smile tugging at her lips abruptly turned into a frown as she saw his gaping jaw close into a tight-lipped scowl. His disguise did little to obscure his angry expression. She responded with a look of confusion. "Shane…?"

"I came here to surprise you, but it looks like the surprise is on me," he said coldly, gesturing towards Brian. His vocal tone stung Mitchie. She had heard it only once before: when Tess had revealed her lie to all of Camp Rock a few months before. She knew immediately that he felt betrayed, and it took only a second more to deduce the reason. Her eyes widened in realization of what he must have seen upon entering. "Shane,…" She leapt off the stage and approached him. "…that wasn't what you think it was."

Shane snorted bitterly. "Of course it wasn't! It never is, is it?"

"Shane…" she stepped forward, wishing she could look him in the eyes to convey her sincerity.

"I told you it'd be hard sometimes." He shook his head and raised his voice. "I promised I'd do my best to make time for you, and I have! But I guess it wasn't enough for you, was it?"

"What are you talking about? You've done more to spend time with me than I dared to expect!" She raised her voice to match his. "I was tying up the banner, and I fell off the ladder! He caught me! That's all! Nothing happened!"

"Really?" her boyfriend snarked.

Mitchie groaned at his evident disbelief. "Yes! I needed the service hours! You had to have known that, since you obviously knew right where to find me!"

"Yeah, your Mom told me about your 'service hours,'" he snapped, using air-quotes to emphasize his point. "I wonder how she'd feel if she knew what you were really doing."

Her jaw went slack. "I wasn't doing anything!" she cried in exasperation.

"Then why are you and whats-his-name the only ones here, Mitchie?" he retorted. "Here you two are, all alone in a big, dimly lit building. I'm sorry, but it all seems too convenient to me!" His voice remained elevated, and his girlfriend could feel his hard glare through the sunglasses.

Mitchie had been so focused on Shane that she hadn't noticed Brian's approach until he spoke up. "Hey, man, I think you need to calm down."

Shane rounded on his perceived adversary. "Stay out of this!" he seethed.

Brian threw his hands up and retreated.

"Shane, this is completely unnecessary," she said, desperation mounting within her. "It was an accident. Ì fell. He caught me. End of story. Why won't you believe me?"

He stood over her, and the two stared each other in the eyes. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

For a moment, Mitchie's lip quivered at his implication. She knew what he was referring to, and it only added insult to injury. It already hurt to know that he trusted her so little. However, as tears threatened to fall, it suddenly struck her that this time, she had done absolutely nothing wrong. Upon recalling that little detail, his remark struck a nerve, and her anguish abruptly morphed into anger. "How dare you!" she cried. "You vindictive jerk! You know I feel bad about that! That was a low blow, and you know it!"

"Oh, and this wasn't?" he shouted back, gesturing between her and Brian. "After everything we've been through–"

"After everything we've been through," she cut him off, "I can't believe you think I'd be so cheap as to go behind your back like this! You trusted me to not use you for your fame! Why can't you trust me with other guys?"

He snorted once more. "Apparently, I never should've trusted you at all!"

"Apparently, you never did! You still thought I'd eventually run off to the highest-bidding tabloid, didn't you?"

"No, but it's nice to finally know the truth!"

"That was not a confession, Shane! I was trying to get you to see how ridiculous you're being! God, you're so dense!"

"I guess I am, because I actually trusted you!" With that parting shot, he turned and stormed away.

"You could've fooled me!" she yelled at his retreating form. "And if that's the way you feel, then maybe it's time to re-evaluate this whole relationship!"

He threw his hands up. "Fine by me!" he replied with finality before exiting the auditorium.

The door slammed, and with it, Mitchie's anger immediately deflated into dejection. She closed her eyes to compose herself before turning to face Brian. "I'm sorry, Brian," she said quietly. "I don't know why he acted like that."

Brian nodded and shrugged. "It's okay. I'm sure he'll come around. He just needs to cool down. Male pride is a fragile thing."

She nodded. "I hope so." She then looked up at him in realization. "Brian, I dropped some…pretty obvious hints after I lost my temper, and…"

Her male companion held up a reassuring hand. "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

Mitchie opened her mouth to thank him, but she was interrupted by Sierra's abrupt return. The bespectacled blond furrowed her brow at seeing that her two comrades had mysteriously moved off the stage. The downcast expression on her brunette best friend's face caused her to narrow her eyes even further. "Hey, guys. What'd I miss?"

**AN: I hope I'm not out of practice. I'm still unsure of how well I pulled off Smitchie's first fight. Shane may come off as a bit unreasonable, but he has some insecurities that will be revealed in the next chapter and will hopefully explain that.**

**We'll be hearing from Brian and the Roman Rockers later on (under much better circumstances), and there will probably also be a surprise crossover to look forward to, so stay tuned!**


	10. Restoration

**A/N: Here it is: Chapter 10, the reconciliation, and it's a long one (relatively speaking)! As always, constructive criticism (especially regarding realism and characterization) is appreciated just as much as positive comments, so don't hold back if you think something about the story could be improved. Also, I don't own "Grow Old With You" or "The Wedding Singer."**

Mitchie's sour mood did not escape her parents' notice when she arrived home that night. She politely refused to talk about it and half-stomped, half-dragged herself up to her room. Sierra, who had been appraised of the situation by Brian, proceeded to tell the Torres the basics of what had taken place between her and Shane. Upon the completion of Sierra's account, Connie gazed regretfully in the direction of her daughter's bedroom.

"I knew they had to fight sometime," she admitted, "but did it have to be this harsh?"

"No, it didn't," Steve answered darkly before making a decision. "I'm going to go talk to him."

Connie grabbed his arm swiftly. "Steve, you're not going anywhere." She threw a pointed look at her husband. "Look, I don't approve of some of Shane's comments anymore than you do, but Mitchie's going on 17 years old. We can't protect her forever. It's not our place. We need to let them work this out on their own. I have a hunch Shane will wise up in a hurry, but if he doesn't, Mitchie will survive."

Steve looked reluctant but soon relented with a heavy sigh. "Alright, but if he comes back here, it'd better be with his tail between his legs."

Meanwhile, Shane made no effort to hide his own wrath from his bandmates. Nate and Jason were both utterly taken aback when he stormed into his new condo red-faced, brooding, and acting eerily like his pre-Camp-Rock self. It had taken quite a bit of persuasion to weasel the reason out of him, and even then, all it earned them was a begrudging Cliff-Notes version.

They had initially been sympathetic, but skepticism soon set in. The lack of detail as to what Mitchie and Brian had actually been doing and what they both knew of Mitchie's character were both cause for suspicion. Something just didn't add up.

"I'll tell you what," Shane declared bitterly that night as he drew out his iPhone. "She wants to see other people, fine! I'm calling up Bella Chamel right now! I might even tip off the Enquirer! Gotta throw the paps a bone every once in a while!"

Nate and Jason shared a foreboding glance before the former took action. "That's it!" he said, swiping the device out of his hands. "You're obviously not thinking clearly right now! Going out with Bella out of spite isn't going to solve anything. In fact, if it turns out you were wrong, it'll just make things worse."

Shane's jaw dropped and then clenched. "I know what I saw, Nate!" He moved to retrieve his phone.

"That's the problem," Nate countered, tossing the offending contraption to Jason, who caught it easily. "I'm not so sure you do."

Shane moved to tackle Jason but subsequently turned on his heels back towards Nate when his phone once again exchanged hands.

"Besides," Nate continued, "let's just assume for argument's sake that Mitchie was cheating on you. If she cares that little about you, do you think she's gonna care if you go out with Bella?"

Shane huffed. "I guess not," he conceded in a mildly softer tone.

"It's getting late, Shane," Jason put in, looking his friend in the eyes. "Go to bed and sleep your temper off. Nate and I will take the guest room."

After a little more persuasion, a slightly calmer Shane agreed and quietly retired for the night. True to their word, Nate and Jason turned what was supposed to be a casual visit into an overnight stay. This is how they found themselves surrounded by the polished peach and tan marble that made up most of Shane's condo kitchen at noon the next day. The two sat at a large octagonal table made of glazed redwood. Nate sat in one of the matching chairs with his feet propped up on another, munching on an apple. Jason was quietly snacking on a jar of peanuts. The silence was finally broken by the emergence of Shane from his bedroom. Shuffling his feet in pajama pants and a wife beater, he greeted his two fully-dressed friends with the smallest of smiles and took a seat between them.

"Well, look who's finally up!" Nate observed with a gentle smirk. "How're you feeling?"

"Honestly?" Shane said with no trace of his previous anger or bitterness. "Confused."

"How so?" asked Jason tentatively.

Shane sighed. "I just…I don't know what to think anymore. I probably did lose control yesterday, but that doesn't necessarily change what I saw. It's like…I want to believe her, but there's still that nagging doubt in the back of my mind."

Nate was impressed. Sleep had apparently done more good than he had expected. "Well, let me ask you this,…and I only want you to answer if you think you can without getting upset again." He raised his eyebrows at his friend, which earned him a nod of agreement. "What exactly was the position you saw them in?"

Shane exhaled, leaned back, and crossed his arms. "He was laying on his back. She was on top of him. His arms were around her waist, and her hands were on his shoulders. Their noses were almost touching, and they were both grinning."

Jason and Nate smiled at each other briefly. This was a big improvement from Shane's earlier claim that Brian and Mitchie had been "practically making out." "And what was Mitchie's explanation again?" Nate continued.

"She fell off the ladder, and he caught her."

"Well, their positions were definitely open to interpretation," Jason admitted, "but Mitchie's story sounds perfectly plausible to me."

"It happens," concurred Nate with a chuckle. "My sister's a total klutz on a ladder. My mom hasn't let her near one in years."

Shane nodded. "But there's still the matter of the grinning," he offered weakly.

"Well, look at it this way. If Jason fell clumsily off a ladder, you and I would be laughing our butts off!"

"Hey!" Jason protested. "Why does it have to be me?"

Nate rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let's say it's me. It'd be pretty funny, right?"

A hint of a laugh escaped Shane's already fading frown as he nodded. He then paused in sudden reflection. "When she first saw me standing there and climbed off of him,…" he realized. "…she didn't really look guilty or nervous. She just looked surprised and then…sort of confused."

Nate scoffed. "Probably because of the death glare you were undoubtedly giving her. You can be downright scary when you're mad."

Shane fell silent in bemusement for a few moments before he abruptly stood up. "But still, guys, I don't know anything for sure."

"Well, the way I see it," Jason interjected, "we can go over what happened all day, but no one can absolutely prove it one way or the other. At some point, it becomes a leap of faith. You have to decide if Mitchie's worth trusting her word."

Nate furrowed his brow. "That was deep, dude. Where did that come from?"

Jason shrugged as Shane collapsed back into his chair, deep in thought. A comfortable silence ensued for several minutes before the latter finally spoke again. "Guys,…I screwed up."

Nate sighed in relief. "Just as we thought."

"Yeah, man," agreed the eldest member of Connect Three. "Mitchie just doesn't seem like the type to do something like that."

"She's not,…" Shane rubbed both hands through his hair, realizing for the first time the entirety of what he'd done. "…which only makes it worse. I screwed up royally!" He stood up again and started pacing.

"Well, I'm sure you both said things you didn't mean,…" Jason reasoned.

"Guys, I threw the whole fiasco about her lie at Camp in her face!" he said desperately.

Nate's jaw dropped. "Dude,…" he shook his head, "…you're an idiot!"

"The last thing she said was something about how, if I don't trust her, maybe we should re-evaluate the relationship."

"What'd you say?" asked Jason.

His eyes widened in panic. "I said 'Fine by me!'"

"Man,…you are an idiot!"

Shane let his arms go slack and stared blankly ahead. "I effed up big time! What if she takes that as a break-up?"

Nate opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the ring of his cell phone. He looked at the caller ID before answering. "What's up, Caitlyn?" He paused and then handed the phone to Shane. "She wants to talk to you."

Shane took it apprehensively and put it to his ear. "Caitlyn?"

"You're an idiot!" Her sharp voice caused Shane to recoil from the tiny phone.

"That seems to be the general consensus," he replied dryly as he cautiously returned the device to its original position. _Seriously, did they plan this?_

"If you honestly think Mitchie would go behind your back with another guy after everything you've been through together, you're insane! Seriously, what were you thinking?"

"I know, Caitlyn! I know! I overreacted. I realize that now, and I feel awful!" He sighed. "How is she?"

Caitlyn's tone softened somewhat. She apparently had not expected Shane to have come to his senses already. "You should feel bad! Mitchie's putting on a brave face, but everyone can tell how mopey she is. From what her parents told me, she's really quiet, and she's taken down several of her Connect Three posters."

Shane winced. "I don't know what I was thinking! I need to fix this!"

"Darn straight!"

"How do I fix this, Caitlyn?"

"Talk to her! Duh!"

"But what if she won't talk to me?"

"Then you're going to have to find a way to make her see how sorry you are!"

"How?"

"I don't know, Shane. That's for you to figure out." She sighed. "I just…don't want my best friend to be miserable."

"Neither do I," Shane said, his voice ringing with sincerity. "I just hope she doesn't consider us already broken up."

"I don't think so, but I think it's safe to say she's pretty close right now."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, if she calls you or something and sounds like she's thinking about giving up on us, please just do your best to boost her hopes a little until I get to her house. I'm gonna be there as soon as I can!"

"You do realize she's still in school right now?"

Shane grimaced. "Crap! I forgot! She doesn't get home until four!"

"I'm on lunch break right now," Caitlyn informed him, "but I don't think hers starts for another hour."

"Okay, then I'll just have to get there as soon as she gets home."

"You'd better."

"You can count on it," Shane said with great conviction. "I gotta go. Here's Nate." He handed the phone back to its owner and turned to his other bandmate. "Jason, pass what I just said to Caitlyn on to Sierra as soon as her lunch break starts."

"Will do."

Shane nodded in gratitude before disappearing into the bathroom to shower and get dressed. For the next three hours, he spoke very little as he pondered what all he wanted and needed to say to Mitchie. He was in the midst of a hasty but nonetheless large breakfast when an idea suddenly struck him. Nate and Jason watched him curiously as he retrieved his laptop and furiously typed in a search query at an Internet guitar tabs resource. It took two or three attempts at different sites, with each failure accompanied by a frustrated groan, to find what he was looking for. After his meal, Shane quickly explained the significance of the song he'd researched before retiring once more to his spacious bedroom, where he devoted himself to mastering the tune.

The intervening hours dragged on until Shane finally gathered his guitar and braced himself. Nate slapped his longtime friend on the back. "Your plan is good," he said. "Go make this right." Shane nodded with a sad smile and finally exited the condo. Both the trek down to his car and the drive to Mitchie's home both went by like a blur, and in seemingly little time at all he found himself at her doorstep. Exhaling deeply, he reached out and rang the doorbell. _Please be Connie, please be Connie, please be Connie… _Shane's breath caught in his throat as the door opened to reveal Steve Torres, whose eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing the identity of his guest. _Well played, God. I s'pose I deserved that._ "Mr. Torres,…" he blurted nervously, "…I know I'm not your favorite person right now,…not that I ever am…, but I realize that I made a huge mistake and I'd like the opportunity to fix it. So,…may I please talk to Mitchie?"

Despite his paternal instincts, Steve couldn't fathom that Shane was a good enough actor to convincingly feign the regret that showed on his face. His face softened mildly as he nodded. "Come on in. Mitchie's in her room."

"Thank you, sir," the rock star replied before stepping inside.

Making a split-second decision, Steve stopped Shane's advance towards the stairs with a quick gesture. "Shane,…I don't expect you and Mitchie to not have little quarrels every now and then,…but if you pull a stunt like this again, I can't promise I'll be this forgiving."

The youth nodded and met the elder man's gaze, doing his best to convey his determination. "Understood."

Steve nodded once more and tilted his head towards his daughter's bedroom. Shane complied and made his way deliberately up the stairs. He let out the breath he'd been holding as he reached Mitchie's closed door and silently shifted the guitar he was carrying on his back into the proper playing position. He paused momentarily before he began strumming the chords he'd learned just hours before. With his eyes glued anxiously to the door before him, he began to sing.

_I want to make you smile_

_Whenever you're sad,_

_Carry you around when your arthritis is bad._

_All I want to do_

_Is grow old with you._

Shane's breathing hitched when the door opened promptly to reveal Mitchie looking at him slack-jawed. He continued.

_I'll get your medicine_

_When your tummy aches,_

_Build you a fire if the furnace breaks,_

_Oh, it could be so nice;_

_Growing old with you._

He stopped and removed his guitar, leaning it against the doorframe. "Hi," he said softly.

She closed mouth and swallowed, looking simultaneously surprised and hesitant. "Hi."

"Can we talk?"

Mitchie nodded quietly, opened the door wider, and retreated back into the bedroom. He followed her in and gently closed the door. "Mitchie,…" he began as she turned to face him, "…I'm not really sure how I can make up for my behavior yesterday, but here's my best shot." He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I overreacted. I lost my temper, and I said things I didn't mean. I should've trusted you. I know that now."

She looked him in the eyes. "But why didn't you?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I…guess I was…insecure."

His girlfriend looked baffled. "Insecure? Shane, you have girls throw themselves at you all the time, and you also have access to some of the hottest female celebrities in America! If anyone should be insecure in this relationship, it's me!"

"Yeah, but Mitch,…" Shane ran his hand through his hair. "Because of my lifestyle, I can't be there for you as often as I'd like. We don't get to see each other every day in the halls or pass notes in class or any of that stuff. There are times when I'm going to be AWOL for weeks, maybe even months at a time. And if being apart that long stinks as much for you as it does for me, I hate putting you through that. You deserve all the little pleasures of a normal high-school relationship, and I feel like I can't give you that." He looked apologetically at her. "So, if I see you getting close to a guy who can give you that,…it freaks me out, 'cause I don't want to lose you."

"That's what this is about? Shane, we've been over this! No, it's not fun when I can't be close to you for weeks on end, but what about all those times we talk online and on the phone? I don't cry myself to sleep at night while you're off touring because I can still connect with you almost whenever I want. You've done a great job of seeing to that! The things you said at school hurt more than you not being here as often as I'd like ever did. Because at least when we talked on the phone or on the 'Net, I knew you'd be there if you could. I knew you cared. But honestly,…when you wouldn't believe what I was telling you about Brian and me, it was almost like…you were looking for an excuse to get out of the relationship."

Shane gaped at her in horror and rushed up to her, gripping her upper arms and stroking them. "No, no, it wasn't anything like that! I don't want out of this relationship! Just this morning, I was practically panicking because I was afraid you'd consider us practically broken up already! I know I flipped out, and I am so sorry about that. Especially the remark about what happened at Camp. I was way out of line there, and I know it! But Mitchie, you have to believe me. The last thing I want to do is lose you!"

Mitchie couldn't help but feel reassured by the sincerity in his eyes. She nodded. "Okay,…but if I believe you, I need you to return the favor. This relationship won't work if you don't trust me."

"I do," Shane insisted. "I do," he repeated more softly. "There's no way anyone can prove what happened in that auditorium, but I don't need proof anymore. All I need is your word, and that'll be enough. 'Cause you're worth trusting…on faith alone."

Her lips curved into the smallest of smiles. "Thank you, Shane. That makes me feel so much better." She met his gaze. "And I want you to take my word on this: there is no one else. There's not now, and I honestly can't imagine my feelings changing anytime soon." She bit her lip. "Just…promise you won't deal me that blow about what happened at Camp again."

Shane shook his head. "I promise. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean anything I said that day. I really am sorry."

"I know you are," Mitchie replied.

"And hey,…" He took both of her hands in his. "That stuff you said about how there's no one else and you can't imagine your feelings changing; you know the same goes for you, right?"

She smiled and nodded again. "But it's nice to hear sometimes."

He smiled back, elated to have apparently earned her forgiveness. "I'll make a note of that." His gaze lowered to her lips, and in silent celebration of their reconciliation, he leaned in and kissed them tenderly. She responded with equal tenderness. When he withdrew, he looked her in the eyes. "Just to be sure, this does mean you forgive me, right?"

Mitchie giggled. "Yes, I forgive you."

"Good." He leaned in again, and this time they both parted their lips for a deeper and longer kiss.

Meanwhile, Connie Torres was carrying a laundry basket down the hall with a satisfied smile on her face. When her husband had informed her of Shane's apologetic arrival, she was both relieved and unsurprised. Her smile disappeared, however, when she found her husband standing in front of Mitchie's room with one ear pressed to her door. She quickened her pace and approached him. "Esteban Ricardo Torres, I know you're feeling even more protective than usual right now, but eavesdropping? Seriously?"

Steve jumped at the sound of his wife's voice. Upon regaining his composure, he turned around, slouched against the door, and let out a deep sigh, tapping the back of his head lightly against the wooden surface. "That boy is either a very smooth talker,…or he really cares about our daughter."

Connie could only roll her eyes and insist that he move before they decide to come out and catch him.


End file.
